The Bracelet MN MS
by romancewriter123
Summary: Monk's ready to move on, but who will he choose, Sharona or Natalie?
1. 2 of a kind

Chapter one – 2 of a kind

It was just before midnight & the rain was cascading down the windows almost like a waterfall.

"You've got to be kidding me, it's like the re-enactment of Noah's Ark out there" Natalie whined.

"Well you could always stay here till the rain lets up" Mr Monk suggested.

" I s'pose I'll have to. Just do me a favour & try to keep the cleaning to a mini-"

Natalie was cut off by the sound of the vacuum cleaner roaring to life. 'Well, there goes a goodnight's sleep' she thought to herself, rolling her eyes. As she began to walk up the stairs to the guest room, she could faintly hear the sound of the phone ringing. Wrestling with Mr Monk to turn the vacuum off, she picked up the phone.

"This is Natalie" Natalie called into the phone.

"Um, is- is Adrian th-there?" a startled & confused reply came back to Natalie.

"May I ask who's calling?"

"Um, this is Sharona"

Natalie realised that this was his former assistant and handed the phone to Mr Monk.

"It's Sharona" Natalie explained, waiting for his exaggerated reaction – as she hadn't contacted him in over 3 years.

Mr Monk managed to look worried, confused, excited, & angry all at the same time. His assistant found it hard to keep a straight face.

"Sharona. Sha-rona. Sh-ar-oooo-na. Sharo-na." Mr Monk greeted her, he tried to put all his conflicting emotions into his greeting. She giggled that sweet sound he had come to love & miss over all those years. He smiled his goofy smile before checking himself & putting back on his solemn face. Mr Monk turned to Natalie & saw that his smile did not go unnoticed.

A small & hopeful voice could barely be heard saying "Hi Adrian, sorry I haven't been in contact, please don't be mad, I just needed to hear your voice, to know that you're still alive".

Mr Monk sidestepped towards his painting of Trudy above his mantle, he bent to his left side before he adjusted it a seemingly impossible 3 degrees. Natalie looked on in awe as the man usually so strange & conserved sat down & poured out his life to a woman who left him without so much as a goodbye.

"… and that's what's happened to me, so what about you?"

Almost disbelieving, Sharona managed to get out "Y-you were h-hugged by a n-naked man?"

Adrian threw his head back and laughed. 'God it feels so good to hear his voice again' Sharona thought to herself. Adrian got back up, readjusting Trudy's picture.

"Adrian! Leave the picture, it's fine!" Natalie could hear Sharona's annoyed tone.

"but-"

"Leave it!"

Adrian shook his head in defeat and returned to his couch. A surprised Natalie was left wondering whether she would ever know her boss like his former assistant did.

"Benji & I were wondering if maybe we could come & visit for a while, things aren't going great up here – Trevor & I got divorced about a week or 2 ago & I needed a break."

Natalie watched as again Mr Monk struggled with his emotions. She emitted a rather loud giggle as she saw him go from sorry, to upset, to happy, to distressed & finally settled on ecstatic.

"Yeh, sure… I mean of course! You could stay here if you didn't want to rent a hotel" Mr Monk realised what he said and tried to fix it "I mean, um, if you wanted to, to save money- not that you needed to-but I only have one guest room- someone would have to sleep on the pull out bed &-"

"It's fine, really, I'll only be here for the weekend & I'd love to stay with you Adrian. I'd better go, I'll see you in a few days – if that's alright." Sharona could hardly keep herself from smiling, as she wondered if he's changed.

"3 days? That's great, perfect, perfect…"

"Goodbye Adrian" Sharona hung up the phone.

Natalie watched him repeat 'perfect' as the realisation set in with her that Sharona is coming back, and she could face losing her job. She could feel the tears welling up, so she quickly grabed the phone from him, & dashed to the kitchen to put it away. Once in there she quickly wiped her eyes, & wondered why it bothered her so much.

"Goodnight Mr Monk, I suppose I'd better get some sleep. They both climbed the stairs & called it a night. Natalie fell fast asleep right away, exhausted from the long day, while Mr Monk suffered yet another sleepless night.

Startling her out of her deep sleep, the song "What I like about you" erupted from his stereo causing her to jump up, almost upsetting the contents on the bedside table. Natalie jumped back, waiting for Mr Monk to rush over in a state of panic, but nothing. She looked up and was taken aback by the sight of Mr Monk waltzing with his duster, in her room!

"Ahem… Mr Monk" Natalie called out. He stumbled over himself, almost falling into the stereo before fumbling for the off button. The flow of music ceased & he turned to Natalie who was on the floor in hysterics.

"Well, I'd better buy some more wipes" she managed to squeeze out in between hysterics. Natalie stuck out her hand and a reluctant Mr Monk took it, using all his might to pull her up. She shook her head before he turned to leave.

"Goodbye Mr Monk" Natalie called out all knowing.


	2. Thinking of wondering about moving on

Chapter two: Thinking of maybe wondering about pondering moving on

Mr Monk waited for the door to close before rushing upstairs to his newly installed closet safe. He pulled out Trudy's bracelet & stared at it for a while before grabbing some spare boxes. He wandered around the house, packing up her clothes, make up, and various items of hers.

Turning to his mantle, he saw that all twenty of his photos were of Trudy. Taking all but 5 down, he put new ones in. There were some of him, Natalie & Julie, & some of him, Sharona & Benji. Satisfied that his home was no longer a shrine of his late, late wife, he sealed the boxes & stashed them in his closet.

The doorbell rang once. Mr Monk struggled with his jacket & shoes. Twice, Mr Monk rushed down the stairs with only one shoe on, almost tripping over his feet. Three times, Natalie let herself in, pockets stashed with wipes. Mr Monk bent down, securing his left shoe to his foot.

"You're back soon" he commented.

"Mr Monk, I've been gone 2 hours, are you okay?" a baffled Natalie queried, he was normally so precise with time. "We need to-" she sees his mantle "Weren't they?".

"We should go, I don't want to be late for the Captain"

"Right, right, lets go…" Natalie was still trying to comprehend this sudden change.

………………………………..

"Monk, this is Eric Sanderson, the brother of the victim" The captain explained.

Sanderson stuck out his hand for Mr Monk to shake. Instinctively, Natalie reached into her bag for a wipe. Shaking Eric's hand, Mr Monk immediately strode over to the victim. Giving each other baffled & confused looks, Natalie put the wipe away & walked with the captain over to Mr Monk.

Doing his usual hand trick, as well as using his gift, or curse, he managed to again find the clues no one else would pick up on in a thousand years. His phone rang, or more accurately erupted, from Natalie's handbag.

"Mr Monk's phone" The secretarial like voice rang through.

"Uh, yeah. Is he there?" The anonymous caller asked

"He's a little preoccupied at the moment, can it wait?" Natalie now knew full well who it was, and for a reason unknown to herself, she was trying to prevent Mr Monk from talking to her.

"Not really, just tell him it's about the flight – assuming you know who this is" Sharona impatiently answered.

Holding her hand over the receiver, she turned to Mr Monk, who was holding up the victim's hand with a pen.

"Mr Monk, It's Sharona, it's about some flight… Is this generally something I should know about".

Grabbing the phone from Natalie, he quickly explained. "Yeah, Sharona's visiting," and with that was out the door, looking for some privacy. Natalie rolled her eyes, and leant against a wall.

"Well that's typ-" the captain stopped in mid thought. "Monk, what the hell is going on?" the captain strode out of the room, leaving Natalie on the verge of screaming.

"Great, you're on the 7:40 flight....... So you'll be here around 9pm?......... Can't wait……. Yeah, I'll be there to pick you up……. Okay, see you soon Sharona, bye……. Bye."

The Captain watched on, getting a clearer idea of just what was happening through the one side of the conversation he could here.

"Monk! You are on a job, I pay you to work, not be social- Oh my god I cannot believe I just had to say that to you- but get back to work"


	3. Moving on

Chapter three: Moving on

"ADRIAN!!!" Sharona & Benji yelled from the arrivals gate.

Mr Monk, clearly jittery from his fear of airports, fountains, planes, scrunchies, stilettos & various other phobias, turned around and smiled the biggest smile Natalie had ever seem. A part of her felt happy for him, but a bigger part of her felt extremely jealous that his smile wasn't for her.

Benji rushed up to him, leaving Sharona struggling with all the bags. Mr Monk was tackled to the ground, writhing & squirming, although not entirely uncomfortable with having a 15-year-old boy on him. Benji leapt up, extending a hand for Mr Monk. Natalie was ready with packets of wipes, but as she looked up from her bag, Mr Monk & Benji were already with Sharona.

"Mmm… I missed you so much" Sharona cried into his shoulder.

"I missed you too" Mr Monk cried back, pulling away from her hug & wiping tears from her eyes.

"Awww, you guys look so cute together!" Benji wooed as Natalie finally found them. Intentionally ignoring that comment, Sharona introduced herself to Natalie.

"Hi, I'm Sharona, Adrian's former assistant, and this is my son Benji." Sharona stuck out her hand & the two shook.

"I'm Natalie, Mr Monk's _current_ assistant" Sharona couldn't help but note the annoyed tone in her voice.

"Here, let me help you with your bags" Mr Monk jumped in, relieving the tension. He picked up two of the suitcases, leaving Benji with the other.

Both Natalie & Sharona did a double take, Adrian Monk, holding the handle of a bag that had been through the process of an airport, through security, handled by dozens of people. Who was this man, and what happened to Mr Monk?

"You know, we should really get going if we want to get home before sun up"

Sharona & Natalie looked at each other, then hurried after Mr Monk & Benji. Introductions would have to wait.

……………………………………

"He ran a red light! Sharona, the man ran a red light! Natalie, you're not listening, that man ran a red light! He committed a crime-he should be charged! Sharona he should be fined, he broke the law!!!" Mr Monk worked his was into panic state from the passengers seat. Sharona leaned forward from the back seat & caught Mr Monk in a tight embrace.

"Look, he's fine, it's all okay. The law is for safety, and everyone's still safe. I'm safe, & you're safe, Benji's safe, and ah- ah-"

"Natalie" Natalie, evidently annoyed, jumped in.

"right, Natalie's safe, the man is safe. He was only ½ a second slow, they always wait 3 seconds before changing the lights to avoid this kind of thing."

"Sharona, your seatbelt, it's not on" Sharona heaved a loud sigh & sat back in her seat. Natalie couldn't resist smirking.

Arriving at Mr Monk's place, Sharona & Benji took their bags inside, while Mr Monk started cleaning some imaginary dirt off the windshield. Natalie tried to talk him away, but again, Sharona came to her rescue.

"Adrian! Adrian! It's clean, ok, It's clean!" Sharona pulled him away and pushed him into the house, leaving Natalie outside.

'I'll never be good enough to be his assistant, why don't I just quit now, but I need the money & there's no other job' She began to cry as she sunk down onto the pavement, leaning against her car.

Mr Monk snuck down the steps, determined to clean that spot, but stopped in his tracks when he saw Natalie breakdown. He knew he was never very good at the comforting thing, but still felt like he had to try.

"Nat-Natalie. Uh, are you alright?" She looked up with a tearstained face & shook her head.

"You're not gonna replace me with Sharona are you?"

Mr Monk put his arm around her & pulled her close. "No" With that he kissed the top of her head & hugged her even closer.


	4. Trudy's Bracelet

Chapter four: Trudy's Bracelet: 

"So, what's been happening this week Adrian?" Dr Bell leans forward, resting his arms on his lap, preparing himself for the worst.

"Is it wrong to give a woman another woman's jewellery?"

"What?"

"I said, is it wr-"

"I heard you, but can I ask what brought this up?" After a long pause, and no reply, Dr Bell was forced to ask again. "Adrian! What brought this up!!"

Mr Monk just smiled with his goofy smile and said "I'm in love".

Speechless, Dr Bell tried his best to answer the question "Ya-uh-ma-ja-hu-r-nyeh." He tried again "Uh, may I ask what jewellery you are referring to?"

Said like the most obvious thing in the world, Mr Monk replied "Trudy's Bracelet".

Dr Bell's eyes opened wide, and he passed out. Stuck in a panic mode, Mr Monk burst out of the room, yelling unintelligibly for Natalie. She jumped up from her magazine & ran into the room to find a passed out Dr Bell. Dousing him with water from the nearest cooler, she turned to Mr Monk.

"What caused this?" Natalie asked.

"Uh, um, ye-, uh – just a question I asked him, but it's nothing important" She gave him a funny look, but returned to fanning Dr Bell back to consciousness. He awoke a while later, with the pair leaning over him.

"Uh, well I guess if she knows the significance, uh no, there's nothing wrong with it, but I'm afraid we'll have to leave the session there. Oh, and Mr Monk, you've shown great progress. I think it's safe to say you're now on square 4."

"Square 4, that's wonderful Mr Monk, that's 3 squares better than before" Natalie praised him, expecting a long speech about how great that was.

"Oh, it's nothing special, I should have moved on years ago" and with that, Mr Monk walked out of the room.

"Yeh, it's 3 squares in one d- Nothing special? Wait, what?" Natalie ran out to catch up with him.

…………………………………….

Back at the crime scene, Mr Monk couldn't focus on the issue at hand. Instead he was planning what he would say to her, would he explain himself, would she know, would she be offended, what would happen?

"Captain, can I ask you for some advice? How do you get a woman to go out with you?"

The Captain turned and looked at Mr Monk. "In my experience, the best thing to do is just be yourse-" he realised who he was talking to, and decided to give some better advice. "Sweep her off her feet, do something for her she can't top. Oh, and don't act too crazy."

"Thanks Cap'n" Mr Monk rushes off as Natalie comes to join their conversation.

The Captain looks slyly at Natalie, before following Mr Monk.

"So, is this special someone close?"

Mr Monk jumps "Uh yeah, she's actually one of my closest friends."

"Hmmm, I see. I think I may know who…"

Mr Monk whirls around, clapping a hand over the captain's mouth. Mr Monk angrily whispers "Do not, under ANY circumstances tell her! I'm serious!"

………………………………………………

Back at Mr Monk's house, Sharona was busy straightening Mr Monks magazines, sculptures, and then advanced to his pictures. She couldn't get used to not having to do everything for him anymore. Ambling over to his mantle, she saw that the majority of the pictures of Trudy were gone. Only 3 or 4 were left, & the large one on the wall had been removed completely.

Sharona smiled to herself, he had finally moved on from Trudy, she just wished it were with her. Mr Monk & Natalie arrived home in a heated argument about something ridiculous.

"I don't care that you counted one more pole than the last 634 times, it's one in 635 times!"

"Yeah but what if I was wrong the other 634 times, what if there is another pole, WHAT IF THERE'S ANOTHER POLE NATALIE, WHAT IF?"

"Lemme take this one," Sharona laughs "Adrian, they put a new pole in, the 23rd one was uprooted by a tree & they put two around the tree."

Mr Monk didn't look convinced, but dropped the subject. Natalie mouthed a thanks to Sharona.

"Well I'd better get home, Julie's probably home from her friends" Natalie left before the pair had a chance to say goodbye.

"I see you changed some of your pictures" she looked down at his hands "OH! & you took your wedding ring off. I am SO proud of you." Caught up in the moment, Sharona pulled his face towards hers & kissed his forehead.

Realising what she had done, she backed away "Sorry". Mr Monk smiled & brushed it off, without even asking for a wipe. "You know I'm leaving tomorrow morning, right? I was wondering if I could use your phone to call a cab?" Sharona hoped like hell he would drive her himself.

"Oh, uh sure, but didn't you want me to drive you?" She smiled; he had finally learned how to deal with women.

"That would be great, thanks!" Sharona went to watch Tv.

"Hey, hypothetically speaking, would it be okay to give a woman another woman's jewellery" Mr Monk went to sit beside her.

Sharona's heart sank, he wouldn't have asked her if it was for her. "Well I guess it depends on whether she knows what the gesture means" she paused. "So, uh, what's for dinner?"

"It's Saturday, the usual – Chicken breast & potato"

"Right, right, do you need any help?"

"Actually I wouldn't mind a hand."


	5. Author Note

Author Note:

Sorry about the short chapters, but I have to juggle school, homework and co-curricular activities as well as a life (which I am seriously lacking in). I'll try to post longer, better chapters faster, as long as I get enough reviews. Oh, and there will be no giveaways on the Sharona/Natalie front – sorry peops! Hey, and if enough of you give me your preference, I'll try to make it happen!


	6. Please don't leave me

Chapter five: Please don't leave me

Sharona lay in bed unable to sleep. A part of her didn't want to leave, but another part couldn't bear to be around the man she loved so much. Every minute was agonising knowing that he would never love her. A single tear fell from the corner of her eye, staining the perfectly starched sheets. Sharona turned over, preparing for another sleepless night.

In her own bed, Natalie was restless. The captain had hinted about Mr Monk being in love with her. Each time she thought about it, it seemed less & less ridiculous. She finally came to the conclusion that she loved him back & that she would have to make the first move. Looking over at the clock, she saw it just turned over to 1:59 am. Time to prepare for Mr Monk's nightly call. Rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, she grabbed tomorrow's weather report before sitting down on the bed, waiting for the phone to ring.

It clicked over to 2:00am

2:05

2:29

3:00

He never rang. She began to panic, where was he, what was he up to, was he okay? But then she remembered Sharona. "Sharona" she had grown to hate that woman. She could just waltz in from 3 years without contact & act like she owned Mr Monk. Deciding that Sharona had probably given the report an hour ago, Natalie flicked off her lamp & tried to get some sleep.

…………………………………………………..

Mr Monk woke up to a breeze from a broken window. Wondering what had done that, he looked around the room for any disturbances. There were. His safe was open & the box containing Trudy's bracelet was gone. Mr Monk sunk down at the foot of his bed. Not only was his plan ruined, but one of the last memoir's of Trudy he had was gone.

"Sharona? Benji? Natalie will be here around 8am, better start getting ready!" Mr Monk called out to the household.

Benji groaned & stumbled over the coffee table on his way to the bathroom. "OUCH!"

Mr Monk emerged from his bedroom in the usual starched white shirt without a tie & suit pants & jacket. Seeing that Sharona had not yet emerged from the bedroom, he knocked on the door. There was no apparent movement inside, so he slowly pushed the door open.

"OH MY GOD!"

Sharona was nowhere to be found, and the room was completely destroyed. Mr Monk was on the verge of a breakdown & was about to scream when the doorbell rang. An obviously peeved Natalie was swinging her keys around her finger.

"So why exactly am I driving YOUR ex-assistant back to the place she ran away to?"

"Well, uh" Mr Monk shifted uncomfortably "she & Trudy's bracelet have been kidnapped"

"Oh my god, Mr Monk, I'm so sorry. You must be distraught about the bracelet!"

"Natalie, I think Sharona takes top priority here"

Natalie looked at her feet, embarrassed that she had assumed her Boss would care more about a bracelet than a human. Looking up, she proceeded to call the captain about Sharona.

"Captain? It's Natalie. Trudy's bracelet & Sharona have been kidnapped… Yeah, mhm… Yeah, Benji's still here… Okay, see you then."

Natalie hung up the phone & went to join Mr Monk and Benji on the couch.

"We'll find her guys"

Mr Monk didn't respond with his usual panic attack. It was partly because he didn't want to upset Benji any further, and partly because he was too upset to speak. Natalie put her arms around the pair, and pulled them into her. To her surprise, Mr Monk didn't resist & they stayed like that until the captain arrived.

"Monk? Natalie?" the captain called from outside.

"Coming!" Natalie released her companions and got the door.

"Hi Captain" Mr Monk spoke in a monotone voice "what's up?"

"For gods sake Monk, pull it together, we need you to solve this one."

Mr Monk wiped his face with his hands & stood up. "We should probably start in my room, it was the point of entry".

"Wait, didn't you say both windows were broken? Ho-" Natalie stopped in mid-thought "right, where the glass fell."

The small party climbed the stairs to Mr Monk's room & went about the investigation, ending up in the guest room (occupied by Sharona). He began pacing back and forth, putting together the clues.

"I know who has her!" Mr Monk strode out of the room, motioning for the others to follow. "And I think she's okay. Someone is trying to lure me to him, and he took both Sharona & the bracelet to be extra sure that I would come. Whoever has her is the same person who killed Trudy. So all we have to do is check the street's security cameras to find out who it is!"

The captain simply stared at Mr Monk. "WHAT led you to that conclusion?"

Mr Monk explained it all, and by the end they all had a firm grasp on the no longer mystery.

………………………………………………………

"There he is!" Mr Monk shouted as they distinctly saw a man climb up the side of his building & smash through the window. "Get a close up!"

Finding a clear image of the man, they defined him as Greg Sheldon (no copyright intended). Doing a background search on the man, they found he lived a few suburbs away from Mr Monk. They all piled in the police car, followed by back up & an ambulance. Crashing through the door to his house, they pointed their guns in all directions calling "Freeze, this is the police!"

Checking out the house, they found Greg trying to escape out the back. Two men tackled him & put him under arrest. Mr Monk, the Captain & Randy proceeded to check all the rooms of the house. Reluctantly, Mr Monk took the basement, knowing that would be the best place to start.

"Sharona?" he called, hearing a small whimpering coming from a wardrobe in the corner. Braving his fear of germs, he sprinted towards it & knelt down. Pulling open the doors, he embraced Sharona before pulling her into his arms & struggling up the stairs.

"Captain! I found her!" Sharona moved in his arms before snuggling into him.

"Great, let's get her to hospital!" the Captain called, before shooing Mr Monk & Randy out the door.

Rushing after the trio, Natalie called "What about the bracelet". Nobody heard her, so she simply climbed into the ambulance with the others.

……………………………………………

Sharona stirred in her hospital bed, and opened her eyes to see Mr Monk & Natalie staring down at her.

"Wha- hu-" she groaned and tried to sit up.

"Mr Monk. He solved the case, he found you & he found Trudy's killer." Natalie explained to Sharona.

Sharona sat up, pulling Mr Monk into an embrace. "Thankyou Adrian!" she said into his shoulder. He smiled and returned the hug.

Natalie was feeling left out, so she went to call in the Captain, Benji and Randy.

Seeing Benji, she beckoned him over, before giving him a bear hug "I love you baby!" Benji rolled his eyes, but snuggled into her.

"So, are you feeling okay Sharona?" Randy asked.

"Uh, a little better, still shaken, but a little better." Sharona looked up at Mr Monk & smiled.

"So, Mr Monk, did you ever get Trudy's bracelet back?" Natalie asked, returning from the waiting area.

"Uh, no." Mr Monk looked down. "I was a little preoccupied."

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry! This is all my fault!" Sharona stressed.

"No, no, it's not! I'd rather keep you safe than have Trudy's bracelet."

A tear fell from Sharona's eye & she pulled Mr Monk down into yet another hug. The Captain and Randy both smiled at the cute moment. Natalie on the other hand, was not so happy.

A nurse woke in, interrupting the moment. "Okay Sharona, well everything checks out, there's nothing wrong, so you're free to go."

Relieved, Sharona smiled, glad she hadn't picked up any diseases in Greg's basement. "Well, I guess we'll leave you alone to get changed" the captain shooed everyone out of the room.

A while later, Sharona emerged, still a little shaky but otherwise fine. "Hi, I'm Sharona Fleming, I'd like to check out". After filling out all the paperwork, she went to grab her bags, but saw that Mr Monk already had them. "Thanks Adrian!"

…………………………………………………

It was raining & slowly darkening outside, and just before 11pm, Mr Monk, Benji, Sharona & Natalie hurried through the door.

"Well, I'm glad to see that you guys got home alright, so I guess I'll just be going." Natalie walked out the door before the others had a chance to say anything.

"So, I'll just take your bags back up to the spare room?" Mr Monk queried, turning to Sharona.

"Oh, uh yeah. Are you sure you don't mind me staying until I get another plane ticket?" Sharona looked worried.

"No, you stay as long as you want to, It's fine" Mr Monk grabbed her bags & carried them up the stairs, motioning for her to follow. "I'll just let you get settled here, and have a sleep. Goodnight Sharona."

"'Night Adrian," Sharona softly closed the door, changing into her pyjamas & getting into bed.

She shivered, feeling the breeze through the not yet fixed window. What if it wasn't that Greg guy, what if it was someone else? She turned over, trying to get some sleep.

An hour later, she was still unable to go to sleep, so she got up, silently making her way past Mr Monk's room, stopping at his door. Sharona smiled, looking at him sleep. Suddenly, he looked up at her. "What's up?" Mr Monk mumbled still half asleep.

"Oh, it's just that I can't sleep, I'm still expecting someone to burst through my window & take me away again." Sharona looked down at the floor.

Mr Monk moved to one side of his bed, patting the vacant room. "Did you want to sleep here tonight?"

Sharona smiled & climbed into his bed, wishing his arm would creep over & pull her tight, but nothing. After a while, she fell asleep, with Mr Monk still awake, thinking about how beautiful she looked.

Noticing that she was asleep, he took the opportunity to spoon her. As he wrapped his arms around her, she felt the warmth of his skin & woke up, careful not to disturb him. He was like a frightened deer in that way; one sharp movement & he would recoil

She smiled, & snuggled into him, pretending she was asleep. Soon after, they both actually fell asleep, dreaming of each other.

"Morning guys" Benji stood in the open doorway, watching Mr Monk & his mother disentangle themselves from each other as quickly as possible. Jumping out of the bed, Sharona smoothed herself down.

"Good morning Benji" Sharona gave an embarrassed cough "How did you sleep?"

Benji simply smiled & bounded down the stairs. Turning around, Sharona saw Mr Monk smile at her. "What?"

"Nothing, nothing" Sharona smiled & walked off to get dressed.

Authors note:

I'll be away on yr 8 camp until Friday, so I probably won't post for about a week or so. I'll try to write some more in my tent, but I won't get much done. Please review as to who you want Monk to end up with, and remember – there will always be a twist!


	7. I can't live without you

My long overdue chapter follows, but evidently your reviews don't! So if I don't get at least 6 more, there will be NO NEW CHAPTER. & as you decided you wanted Natalie, I will purposefully defy you – nah, it will be Natalie! Happy reading, pls review! Oh, & check out my new story – Mr Monk goes to the circus!

……………………………………………………………..

**Chapter 6: I can't live without you**

"Natalie! Natalie! Where are you, you're 1 minute & 34 seconds late!"

Natalie wiped a tear from her face & looked up at Sharona cooking breakfast through his window. "Yeah, I'm just arriving now." She sighed & walked into the building, growing more & more confident that she would be losing her job. Using her key she opened the door, stumbling into Mr Monk, who must have heard her come in.

"Oh, uh sorry, do you need a wipe?" Natalie hoped he'd say no, but reached into her purse anyway.

"No, no… No…" Mr Monk seemed to be in a trance.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a sec?" Natalie beckoned him out into the hall, wondering where to begin. "Um, okay. Look, I love my jo-"

Mr Monk cut her off by putting his finger to her mouth. Her heart instantly melted at his willingness to touch her. "I'm not going to replace you Natalie, I couldn't live without you."

His words meant a whole lot more than she thought. Natalie thought he simply meant he couldn't function without her assistance, but he meant he couldn't live without her the same way he couldn't live without Trudy. He would go completely catatonic.

"Thankyou Mr Monk." She pulled him into a tight embrace, and to her surprise, he held her even tighter.

"Adrian! I'm gonna go book some plane tickets because somebody doesn't own a computer." Sharona stopped as she looked out the door at her former boss & replacement willingly hugging. She felt a sharp pain in her heart as she realised she loved him & that he loved Natalie.

Getting no response she simply left, suppressing the tears until she was far enough away.

"Hey, we'd better get going" Natalie broke the hug, "the captains expecting us"

"Yeah" Mr Monk poked his head through the door "Hey, Benji, you gonna be okay here?"

"Yes Mr Monk, I think I can handle it!" Benji rolled his eyes & turned his attention back to his phone.

Mr Monk smiled & motioned for Natalie to lead the way.

………………………………………………………………………………….

The Captain & Randy were fidgeting, wondering how Mr Monk was taking the news of Trudy's Bracelet not being found.

"Hey Monk" the captain tried, unsure of what was to come.

"Morning Captain" Mr Monk gave a nod of the head. "So what's the case."

"Y-uh-uh… Are you sure you're fine with it all?"

"With what?" Mr Monk looked at him as if he'd gone crazy.

"With… ya know... it…"

Mr Monk raised an eyebrow, surely not understanding. Randy cut in "with Trudy's bracelet not being recovered."

"RANDY!" the captain whipped his head around.

"Sorry… Sorry." Randy turned & left the room.

"Ohhhh, the bracelet, yeah, I'm fine." Mr Monk shook his head, "why on earth didn't you just say so?"

The Captain was starting to get used to Mr Monk's more normal tendacies. "Right, why didn't I, what was I thinking?"

Mr Monk took a quick glance at Natalie & caught her looking at him. She blushed & quickly turned away. Mr Monk smiled.

………………………………………………………………….

"Mr Monk, we're here, we are EARLY, and everything is FINE!"

"But what if Dr Bell was running early, which makes me late & I've never been late & he'd be kept waiting." Mr Monk looked down at her with his puppy-dog eyes "WAITING!" he stressed.

Natalie felt the sudden urge to tackle him & kiss him, but she suppressed it. Instead she just tried to console him. "You cannot be late EVEN if he is running early because your appointment is at 5pm & it is currently 4:57pm. You have 3 minutes & we have looked at 7 DIFFERENT CLOCKS!!!"

Just then the receptionist walked out. "Adrian Monk?"

Mr Monk stuck up his hand, and then unsure what to do with it, slowly lowered it back down before rushing into the room.

………………………………………………………………….

"So Adrian, I heard about Trudy's bracelet." Dr Bell leant forward.

"Mpfh" Mr Monk was clearly distracted.

"Adrian? Are you okay." Dr Bell tilted his head.

"The picture on the wall, it's up- up- up-" Mr Monk tried to turn upside down in his chair with no avail "Upside down".

Dr Bell had no trouble not laughing, as he had worked with these people all his life. "Adrian, if it makes you happy, go fix it."

"NO!" He had not intended for his voice to come out that strong. "This is a test! I mean, I'm supposed to be going forward, not backwards."

For the rest of the session Mr Monk was so intent on not giving into the picture that he missed half of what Dr Bell was saying.

"So, how was it?" Natalie climbed into her car, as Mr Monk did the same.

"The picture… was upside down." Mr Monk looked helpless as he tried to indicate upside down in a seatbelt. "And I couldn't fix it…"

Natalie let out a small giggle. Mr Monk turned, curious, but Natalie brushed it off.

"So, Sharona is leaving this afternoon…" Mr Monk attempted to make small talk.

"Really?" Natalie tried not to sound too enthused, but Mr Monk caught on.

There was an awkward silence as they tried to think of something to say.

………………………………………………………………………..

"It's tuuueeessddday!" Mr Monk stressed. "It's chicken pot pie night!"

"Look, I just want to go out! At this stage I don't care what the hell you do as long as it doesn't involve my last NERVE!" Natalie was getting agitated & was glad Sharona had left the previous afternoon, as she wouldn't have to deal with another dinner struggle.

"But the scheeedddduuuulllleee!" Mr Monk began to whine. Natalie snapped & stormed out his door, Mr Monk whimpering after her "Chicken… Schedule… Pie… Natalie…"

Natalie climbed into her car & closed the door, waiting for Mr Monk to either come down, or spend hours making his food. "Natalie! Wa-" he puffed "wait!". She smiled to herself as he got in the car.

"This isn't so bad is it, Mr Monk?" She turned to Mr Monk who was hyperventilating about the schedule. She rolled her eyes & turned back to the wheel. "Okay, we're here, you can open your eyes."

Almost like a scared little boy, he poked his head up & looked out the window. "Do I have to go?" he whimpered. Natalie reminded herself not to bring up the chicken pot pie.

"YES! Now get out of the car & deal with it!" Natalie practically yelled at him.

Walking into the restaurant, Natalie stopped at the front desk. "Table for two" She paused, "Or one & a half." The waiter laughed & showed her to her table.

"Natalie, the forks a-"

Natalie gave him a death stare "I DON'T want to hear it. This is the first night I have actually gotten out of the house in MONTHS & I DON'T WANT TO HEAR YOUR COMPLAINTS, SO SHUT THE HELL UP OR MAKE YOUR OWN WAY HOME!!" By this time she had attracted the attention of most of the customers in the restaurant. Mr Monk lowered his head & subsided.

The waitress struggled to keep herself from laughing as she tried to take their order. "What will it be tonight?"

"Do you have chicken pot pie?" Mr Monk looked hopeful.

"No" The waitress leant to one side.

"Natalie… they don-" He was cut off by Natalie's expression. "I'll have the- uh- uhhhhhhhh- plain pasta all the same length cooked for 10 minutes with the heat precisely 43/67ths of the way up, cooked in a-" he was cut off again.

I'll have the ravioli." Natalie banged her head on the table, why was this so hard? He had improved, but not so much. She loved him, but he drove her crazy. The waitress smirked & left.

Natalie stayed with her head on the table until a hand touched her arm. She looked up, expecting someone had come to her table. Instead it was Mr Monk. "I'm sorry I'm such a pain." She was NOT expecting that.

"Uh- um- y- wh-" she stammered, trying to come up with a response. Instead she failed miserably & just said "Oh." Mr Monk knew she would be caught off guard, but had decided to say it anyway.

"The waitress came back with their meals. "Your ravioli ma'am. And your pasta…" She trailed off, setting the bowls down & walking away.

…………………………………………………………………….

"See that wasn't so bad!" Natalie rubbed his arm as they drove home.

"Natalie?" Mr Monk looked as if he was about to say something really important.

"what?"

"Both hands on the wheel… Please…" Mr Monk seemed to duck, afraid of what would happen next. Natalie gave the text book roll of the eyes & reverted her gaze back to the road.

After a period of silence, Mr Monk turned to her. "But you're right, it wasn't that bad. " Natalie smiled, she had won.

She pulled up outside his house & walked him in. "So I'll see you tomorrow."

It was more of a statement than a question, but none-the-less, Mr Monk replied with "Yep," before walking into his apartment & closing the door on her. Typical Monk.

"Figures he wouldn't invite me in" Natalie muttered to herself as she made her way back to her car. "He'll never get that there's anyone else but Trudy, & he'll never get that other people have feelings, but he is entertaining." She drove back home, yelling at herself to stop talking to herself, god Mr Monk was rubbing off on her.

…………………………………………………………………………..

Natalie watched him in a daze as he wandered around the crime scene, sometimes being distracted & going back to the same spot again. A new cop sidled up to her. "What a weirdo"

Natalie flicked into defensive mode. "Look mister, this man could solve a case 100 times faster than you, & he lost his wife in a car bombing, so next time you try to bag on someone, get your facts straight on who you're bagging to, coz I'm his assistant & you'd better put your tail between your legs & run off before I get a chance to rip it off."

The policeman scooted of, much to the amusement of Stottlemeyer. "What did you say?" the Captain looked at her suspiciously. "He insulted Mr Monk, didn't he?" Natalie nodded, & went over to Mr Monk.

"Any clues?" She looked over his shoulder & clung onto his arm, & a still amused Stottlemeyer awaited his reaction.

"Uh, yeah, I'm almost there, I think it was the boyfriend, & as soon as we-" Mr Monk looked over & saw the Captain watching intently. Mr Monk gave him a strange glance & turned back to Natalie. "As I was saying, as soon as we get the fingerprints back from the lab, we can arrest him." Surprisingly, Mr Monk had yet to flinch at Natalie's touch.

As they left the crime scene, Natalie gave the Captain a 'suck-it' look, indicating that Mr Monk wasn't scared of her germs anymore.

………………………………………………………………….


	8. I'm Sorry

Authors Note:

Thankyou guys sooooo much for all the reviews, I value all your opinions so much!! I'm now going to introduce a sub-plot, otherwise it will get too boring – I know you've all been thinking that. Ciao for now.

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Chapter Seven: Our Fears

Natalie felt like she was being tortured as Mr Monk rearranged his video collection. Unfortunately she couldn't hurry him, as there had been no calls for the captain, & it was already 4pm. Her head slumped down to rest on her folded arms positioned on the table.

Natalie began to make small talk. "So, the captain hasn't called us, & we aren't booked for the day, what excruciating task am I pretending to assist with?"

Mr Monk looked up from his process of rearranging his collection. "Nothing. I polished my light bulbs on Sunday, went shopping after that, cleaned my house before you came. After this I have nothing to do."

Natalie looked shell-shocked. "Nothing?" She raised her eyebrows "Don't you need to get dust out of the crevices in your roof tiles or something?" she joked.

"No, I did that Saturday." Natalie emitted a strange noise that faintly resembled a laugh trying to be held in, covered with a cough. Mr Monk's head slowly raised & she saw the bemused expression on his face. She couldn't contain it any longer & she burst out into a fit of giggles.

Minutes later, she subsided. "You finished?" Mr Monk didn't look impressed.

"Sorry, sorry… Hey, I know what we should do today! Did you want to go see a movie?" Natalie knew he'd say no, but it was worth a shot.

"A movie, with people & filthy seats &-" He got faster & faster until he could think of nothing more to complain about. By this time Natalie had repositioned herself so she was sitting sideways on the chair.

"We could always just rent a DVD." She suggested.

"Yeah!" Mr Monk sounded a little more enthused. "But no chick-flicks!"

Natalie laughed a little "Chick-flicks? You actually know what they are?"

"Yes!" Mr Monk retorted. "Well… no." he admitted "But I know I wouldn't like them, I'm a man."

Natalie gave her mischievous smirk "Fine then, what about a horror movie." Mr Monk looked terrified, "But I mean if your not man enough…" She trailed off, awaiting his reaction.

"No, horrors fine… with the blood & the guts & the… horror…" Mr Monk tipped to one side.

"So it's settled then. Lets go." She stood up & strode out the door, wondering how amusing this would be. "We'll have to watch it at my place, because someone doesn't believe in advancing technology" she made sure to stress the someone part.

"Fine." Mr Monk hurried after her. It was like she was becoming the boss.

………………………………………………………………..

"So… What about Bloodshed I?" Natalie waved the case in front off him whilst "ooooooo-ing".

Mr Monk rolled his eyes & grabbed the case "Hmmm…" he read the back of it. "I see worse than this on the cases I solve. What about…." He flicked through a couple of dvds before picking one up "The Exorcist?"

He passed the movie to Natalie "Yeah, this one sounds good. The scariest movie of all time has returned… Are you sure you wont be too scared?" She teased him.

He laughed & took the video to the register.

…………………………………………………………………

Natalie pulled down the shutters in the house. Thankfully Julie was at yet another sleepover. Mr Monk was busy straightening up her house. She intentionally left it messy, as he wouldn't bother her when she was busy. "Mr Monk! The movies starting!" She yelled into the other room.

"Just a sec!" Natalie began to regret her decision of the mess.

"NOW! Mr Monk!" He hurried into her living room & sat on one side of the couch. Natalie sat on the other with her feet curled up beside her. She pressed play on the remote & the opening music began…

Halfway through the movie, Natalie was already hiding behind her hands, whilst Monk was trying to restrain himself from ruining the movie for her. He turned to her & saw how scared she was. Mr Monk debated with himself for a while, but gave in & scooted closer to Natalie & pulled her into him.

Stunned, Natalie forgot all about the movie & looked up at him. He pretended to be absorbed in the movie so she wouldn't suspect anything. Natalie lay her head down on his chest & turned back to the movie.

"AGHHHH!" She screamed & turned into him. Mr Monk shook his head, you should never try to scare an ex-cop, it tends to backfire.

Precisely 48 minutes & 21 seconds later, the ending credits began. "How were you not scared?" Natalie finally looked up from being buried in his chest.

Mr Monk pointed to himself "ex-cop. I've seen people die in worse ways than any horror movie could show." He smiled at her & gave her a quick hug, as she was still shaking.

…………………………………………………………………….

The phone rang at precisely 2am. Natalie was sitting in the middle of her bed wretched with fear. She had a baseball bat next to her & she practically had a heart attack when she first heard it.

"Hello?" Her voice squeaked at the end of the word.

"Hi, Natalie, It's me… Adrian." He heard her voice & noticed she was shaky.

"Okay, now seriously, who else would it be?" Natalie had regained her composure.

Mr Monk realised him asking if everything was okay would be redundant. "You got the weather report?" He tried to act natural before realising she couldn't see him.

"Yeah." Natalie grabbed it from her bedside table & read it out to him. After the movie incident, she had fallen even more in love with him.

"Thankyou" Mr Monk hung up the phone, leaving Natalie to deal with her fear alone.

She finally fell asleep about ½ hour after her call to Mr Monk. Her sleep finally overcame her body & pushed out her fears.

……………………………………………………………………….

"Mr Monk?" Natalie unlocked the door to his apartment, shifting nervously at every sound.

"Yeah?" He yelled from the kitchen. He was busy putting away his breakfast utensils.

"Oh, there you a-" there was a huge crash & Natalie practically leapt into Mr Monks arms. Mr Monk staggered a bit, regaining his balance as Natalie clung to him.

"This could be a- correction, this is a stupid question, but are you okay?" Mr Monk peered down at her, trying to find her face (which was buried in his shirt). She shook her head. "Is this because of the movie?" He lifted up her chin so she was looking directly into his eyes. She nodded & leant on his chest whilst he rubbed small circles on her back.

"I know it sounds stupid, but the movie really freaked me out, I know it's just fake & everything, but stuff kinda like that really does happen & I see a lot of it, & it's really common now in my life &-" She was cut off by his finger pressed to her lips.

"Hey, compared to me, your pretty normal." He smiled & rocked from side to side as he held her.

"Thankyou, by the way." Natalie smiled & pulled away. "We have a new case, so we'd better get going," she led him out of the house & waited as he double-checked for the 4th time that he had locked the door.

"Sorry" Mr Monk slipped the key into his pocket. She looked at him, startled that he had apologized for his condition.

"Huh? Why are you apologising?" She gave him an odd look.

"Well, it's… My stupid disorder, & it's annoying & time-consuming, & I've made so many enemies because of it &…" He trailed off & pressed his face to his hands.

Natalie began to rub his back & make soothing sounds. "It's not your fault, you don't need to apologise." She really couldn't think of anything else to say, so she tried to pull him into a hug, but he stood up & walked off.

"Mr Monk?" She called after him, but he didn't respond. Natalie chased him, finally catching up with him as he entered the park at the bottom of his street. "Mr Monk?" Her voice softened and she put her hand on his shoulder.

He turned to her "sorry," he lowered his eyes & sunk down to the grass, leaning against a tree. Shocked, Natalie sat down beside him. "I'm just so sick of being a burden to everyone. I notice everything, I have no social skills, I'm stuck in the past… Everyone knows there's no hope, & they treat me like a big kid."

Natalie felt so sorry for him that she leant into him & pressed her lips to his. Seconds later, she pulled away. "Sorry" she quickly stood up & went to leave, but realise Mr Monk had a firm grasp on her wrist. She turned to look at him & he smiled.

Natalie felt a wave of relief wash over her as he pulled her back down. He cupped her face with his hand & pulled it towards his. As their lips met, static flowed through their bodies, making them shiver at exactly the same time. Mr Monk wrapped his arms around her back & pulled her close. She put her arms around his neck & felt the warmth of it on her cool hands.

After 4 minutes they finally pulled apart. "Mr Monk, w-"

"Call me Adrian." Mr Monk stood up, & extended his hand for her.

"Okay, Adrian." She smiled & let herself be pulled up. "We'd better get going, the captains ex-" As she said that, her phone rang. She disentangled her hand from his & pulled out her phone. Checking the caller ID, she made the comment "Speak of the Devil."

"Captain?" She addressed the impatient man on the other end of the phone.

"Where the hell are you?" Stottlemeyer leant against his car.

"We're just leaving now." She pulled Mr Monk along as they ran back to the house.

"WHAT? I called you a half hour ago & you still haven't left, what were you guys doing? Well what was Monk doing anyway?" Stottlemeyer sighed.

"Well…" She looked over at Mr Monk, who smiled back at her. "Julie overslept & missed the bus so I had to take her to school." They arrived back at his apartment & leapt into Natalie's car.

"Whatever." The Captain stood up & walked over to another police car. "Just get here soon." He pushed the end button a little too hard & turned to comfort the 15 year old.

"Hey…" He whispered. After all, she had seen her family explode with the car.

"Sup?" She whispered back, obviously mocking him.

The Captain looked baffled. He was debating with himself – would he stay & comfort her, or would he leave before she got mad?

The girl jumped down from her poised sitting position on the hood of the car. Standing at 5 foot 11 inches in her heels, she surveyed her surroundings. The girl adjusted her stylish outfit that consisted of black knee high boots with a 4-inch heel, black sheer stockings, dark denim mini-skirt, black camisole with red straps, & a red knee length overcoat. She smoothed her long, layered dirty-blonde hair that was loosely tied in a side ponytail and turned to address the captain.

"Look, I know your debating with your internal monologue, but this is a crime scene & you're a cop. So I suggest you turn your attention back to the crime scene & actually do your job." The girl had a sophisticated voice, & if he didn't know any better, the captain would have said that she was 20.

Stottlemeyer hurried back to the scene, strangely intimidated by this teenager.

"We're here Captain!" Natalie ran up the footpath with a Mr Monk in tow.

"Finally!" The Captain walked towards them & began to debrief. "Okay, so a family comes back from an amusement park minus their foster child. As they pull up to the kerb, the car exploded. The foster child appears at the door after the explosion, & screams, but she wasn't upset. We did some background research – Her name is Sharona but we have no last name, she was kicked out of home at the age of 3, was raised by thugs, they got arrested & she was taken to a foster home. She hated them & she hated the rules, so she stopped coming home a lot, and basically stayed at her home 1-2 nights a week. We have no idea where she's been, but we did some tests & she's sober & clean – never been drunk or a druggie."

"Wow, looks like someone's really done their research." The girl came up behind him and pushed in front of him. "Hi, I'm Shardy. You must be Adrian Monk, & you must be his assistant, Natalie Teeger." She extended her delicate hand for Natalie to shake. She shook it, surprised at her composure.

"I'm so sorry for your loss" Natalie sympathised.

"No problem, they hated me anyway, now they're rid of me forever." Shardy said this without a flicker of emotion. "I'd just like to know who did it so they can be put behind bars, & I was hoping you'd help me." She looked into Mr Monks eyes, and for a second he saw the intense hurt in her eyes that she was so careful to hide.

"Of course we'll help you." He didn't want to say too much, in case she got mad.

"Thankyou. I know you despise being touched, but would you let me shake your hand?" Shardy enquired.

"Uh-" he looked at Natalie, who egged him on with her eyes. "Okay, I guess." He stuck out his shaking hand & Shardy shook it. He was surprised by the delicacy of her touch, & kissed her hand, not even asking for a wipe. He had no idea why, but he felt a strange connection to this girl.

………………………………………………………………………..

Authors Note:

Do you guys like Shardy? Do you want her to stay? Please comment & tell me your opinion, otherwise I'll go with mine! Later people.


	9. Shardy

Authors note:

Lovin the comments, keep 'em coming. I apologise about 'Mr Monk goes to the circus' it was awful! It sounded better in my head, not to mention the illegality of it & the writing was pathetic. Anyway, I hope this one's better.

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Chapter Eight: Shardy

A small crowd had gathered around Mr Monk & Shardy. They were all mumbling to each other, unable to believe that Mr Monk had kissed someone's hand, not yet asking for a wipe.

"Do you think it's 'cause she reminds him of Sharona?" A young police officer's voice was barely heard through the crowd.

"Maybe it's his long-lost daughter" That voice needed no introduction.

"RANDY!" The Captain whipped around & turned to face the ignorant Lieutenant. He looked sheepish & escaped in a remarkably uncoordinated way.

Still in a trance, Mr Monk & Shardy were staring at each other. "Mr Monk!" Natalie snapped her fingers in front of his face. "Mr Monk?" He jerked back & broke their eye contact.

Shardy turned to walk away, acting bored, but she thought the better of it. "Can I talk to you a sec?" She addressed Mr Monk.

"Uh… Yeah" He was still trying to recover from before, & surreptiously wiped his lips with a wipe. Mr Monk rushed after her, as she was obviously not waiting for him.

"So…" Shardy turned to him "What was that?" she smiled.

"I dunno." Mr Monk screwed up his face. "Have I met you before or something, cause I… I think I know you or something."

"Um…" She racked her brains… "I usually hang around music shops… It's my life – I got myself arrested about 20 times playing unauthorised in the streets & stuff with my band, Crossed Wires. Maybe you saw me at the station or something. At some stage I was given a piggy back by some guy named Randy – the one over there." She smiled.

Mr Monk laughed a little "You know, somehow that doesn't surprise me. Yeah, I think I have seen you, Stottlemeyer went ballistic."

Shardy leant against a tree. "Most people think I did it."

"Huh?" Mr Monk looked up.

"They think I killed them because I'm not upset. I hated them so much, they hit me, kicked me out, I wasn't allowed home most nights so I took up refuge in the music shop nearby. I know it sounds mean to talk that way, but they didn't want me, I was too much trouble, & now I'm out on my own, looking for someway I don't have to leave my life behind & start again." Shardy wiped the tears from her face. "People wonder why I seem so stand-offish, & it's because when I let people in, they just leave me. It happened with my parents, my friends, the guys who took care of me…" She began to sob. "Sorry, I'm making you uncomfortable." Shardy turned away.

"No, no… No… well, yes." Shardy laughed.

"You know, you're the first person to make me laugh in so long. Thankyou." She was about to hug him, but remembered he was phobic of, well, everything.

They walked back to the scene in silence. "So?" Natalie bounced up to him, grabbing onto him arm, getting strange looks from the police officers.

"So?" Mr Monk looked very confused.

"Did ya find out anything" Natalie was in a bubbly mood, out of place in the current situation.

"No… well, yeah… but no." Shardy giggled at Mr Monks answer.

Mr Monk paced around the car, finding strips of paper that weren't completely ruined, & objects of interest to 'baggie'.

"Any leads?" Stottlemeyer asked Mr Monk when he had finished.

"Uh, not yet, it's fairly hard to salvage anything from this, we'll need to question the witnesses – by that I mean Shardy." Mr Monk was having trouble adjusting to that nickname. He pulled at his collar, uncomfortable about the whole situation.

"Okay." The Captain turned to Shardy, his dislike was apparent towards her. "Sharona, can we take you back to the police station for some questioning?"

Shardy rolled her eyes. "It's SHARDY! I hate the name Sharona, it was my mothers, thank God I got a new surname."

"What was i- Never mind. Can we take you to the station?" The captain was getting impatient.

"Whatever" Shardy mumbled before walking towards the cars. "Uh guys, there's like 15 cars…" She turned back to them & raised her eyebrows.

"We'll take mine." The captain went to show her the way, but she had already found it & was sitting on top of it. "Aww. Come on!" The Captain looked annoyed as he saw her swinging her legs & coincidentally kicking his door with her heels.

Mr Monk let out a small laugh & went to Natalie's car, ready to make the trip to the station.

…………………………………………………………………………

The captain sat across from Shardy in the questioning room. How dumb do you think I am?" Shardy queried.

The captain shook his head. "Huh?"

"I know there's a viewing room behind the WINDOW!" Shardy went & whacked it.

"Don't break it." The captain called. The lights switched on & Mr Monk, Natalie & Randy were revealed. Shardy gave a sarcastic wave, a difficult manoeuvre to pull off. The small group made their way to the other side of the window & sat down.

"So. You don't seem very upset by this. Why?" The Captain took control of the backwards situation.

"Uh… 1 guess – I hated their guts!" Shardy thumped her head on the table "you guys are kidding right? Y'all know all this."

"So, was there anything out of the ordinary during the explosion?" The Captain tried again.

"Except for the explosion, the fact that most people were cheering after they got over the shock, they were hated by all." Shardy watched as the Captain's hopes sunk.

"So you're telling me that practically everyone who knew them had a motive."

"Everyone who'd even heard of them." Shardy stressed.

"This could be hard" Natalie commented whilst trying to subtly hold hands with Mr Monk.

"You guys know pretty much everyone but Randy's figured it out." Shardy shook her head as they jumped apart.

Right on cue, Randy cocked his head "Huh?" Everybody in the room burst out laughing.

"Alright. Back to work." The Captain turned back to Shardy. "So, what's your alibi?"

"They came back from somewhere, & I obviously didn't go with them – the bomb was either set off by an automatic detonator or a certain temperature of the car or something. So, uh… I really have no alibi, but that's kinda a stupid way to kill someone – if I were to do it, I'd be a little smarter. I dunno, fumes from a running car, make it look accidental, but you guys are probably gonna charge me anyway so what's the point." Shardy took a deep breath & regained her composure. "Can I go now?"

"Uh… Yeah." The Captain sighed. He had nothing on her. "Aren't you gonna need a ride home?"

"Nah." Shardy walked out without an explanation, leaving an apparently baffled Captain to deal with the questions.

"Uh-" Randy looked very lost, if that was something new.

"Not now." The captain stood up & left, Randy following like a dog.

"Do you really think everyone knows?" Mr Monk looked like a worried puppy dog as he stroked her hand with his thumb.

"I wouldn't be surprised." Natalie giggled at the look on his face.

"What?"

"You look like a worried puppy dog." She leant over & kissed him on the lips.

"Ahem!" The Captain was leaning against the doorframe. "You guys leaving any time soon?"

Natalie laughed & stood up, pulling Mr Monk with her. "Come on, Adrian", she walked out the door with him in tow.

"Adrian?" Stottlemeyer whispered to himself.

………………………………………………………………….

"Is that… Shardy" Natalie looked closer at the girl wearing a gypsy inspired outfit that looked amazing on her. She was strumming her guitar & singing along to it.

_When you know the war's over_

_And you haven't won_

_But you still keep trying_

_Until you say that you're done_

_Coz you're falling apart_

_Thinking you're the only one_

_Hold on, don't give up_

_Try a little harder, you-_

Shardy turned around & saw the pair staring at her. She picked up her guitar & ran, the tears streaming down her face. "Wait, Shardy!" Mr Monk chased after her as she slowed her pace, before furiously wiping the tears from her face. "are you alright?"

"You care? You don't even know me." Shardy turned to walk away again.

"Wait!" Mr Monk stepped in front of her. "Look, I don't know why, but I feel a connection to you & I'm going to clear your name, because I know you didn't do it."

"Thankyou." Shardy was genuinely surprised.

"Uh." Mr Monk prepared himself for an awkward question "so where are you living?"

"Music shop – well I was anyway, they think I killed the family too." She looked down.

Mr Monk took a deep breath in & squeezed his eyes shut. "You could always stay at my place… Unless you have somewhere else to go." He said it almost too quickly.

"Uh, well… no I don't have anywhere else to go, but I don't want to be a burden." Shardy tried to walk away again.

"You have nowhere else to go & you are staying with ME!" Mr Monk grabbed her arm.

"Kay." She walked back towards Natalie. "Sup." It wasn't a question.

…………………………………………………………

Shardy struggled with her bags as she made her way through Mr Monk's house.

"Okay. This is the guest room, try to avoid… Never mind." Mr Monk gave her the tour of the house. "I've got a date tonight. Will you be alright here with Julie?"

He looked genuinely concerned, something she wasn't used to. "Uh, yeah."

"Alright, I'll just let you get settled." Mr Monk walked out, closing the door.

Shardy smiled & went to change into comfier clothes. After getting settled, she went downstairs to watch TV

Sitting with her legs underneath her on Mr Monk's couch, Shardy tried to tie her hair in a loose plait – with no avail. "Here, let me help." Mr Monk sat next to her & ran his fingers through her hair, reminding her of what it felt like to be cared for.

"You're not scared of my germs?"

"No." He pulled her into his arms & they lay like that until Natalie & Julie arrived.

"Hi, I'm Julie." She addressed Shardy. "I've seen you outside my school before, haven't I."

"Yeah. I'm Shardy, nice to meet you." She stuck out her hand, & Julie shook it.

"We'd better get going. Be good." Natalie turned to Mr Monk & the pair began to walk out the door.

"Have fun." Shardy called out.

"Bye, we'll be back soon." Natalie & Mr Monk left.

…………………………………………………………….

"This is a really nice place. How'd you know I liked Jazz?" Natalie walked into the restaurant with her arm wrapped around Mr Monk's. She was dressed in a blue satin dress that came halfway to her knees. She was wearing strappy stilettos that matched her dress, & her hair was done in a loose bun, with wispy strands of hair framing her face – waiting for Mr Monk to push them back.

Mr Monk was dressed in a white shirt with the top button undone (Natalie insisted), black dress pants & a black suit jacket.

"Reservations for two, under Monk." He addressed the waiter.

"Right this way sir." The waiter directed them to their table, setting down two menus. Mr Monk pulled out the chair for Natalie & sat opposite her, their table near the dance floor.

After scanning their menus, they were ready to order. Mr Monk waved over a waiter. "Can I please have the veal? Wi-" He decided to let his food touch for the sake of Natalie's sanity.

"And can I please have… The ravioli?" Natalie reached out & slipped her hand into Mr Monk's across the table.

"Sure." The waiter finished writing down their order & whisked himself away.

"I LOVE this song" Natalie's eyes sparkled as the song began to play.

Mr Monk squirmed in his chair, before asking her "do you want to dance?"

"YES" Natalie practically jumped out of her seat, dragging him towards the dance floor. He placed his hands on her waist & smiled as hers wrapped around his neck. Mr Monk swayed to the music, Natalie following his lead. "See, dancing isn't that bad."

"Well not when I'm with you anyway." He reached down & pressed his lips to hers, deepening the kiss as the chorus began. A while later, it felt like time had stopped as his lips had crashed into hers, they broke apart, realising their food was ready.

…………………………………………………………

"I had a really nice time tonight, Adrian" Natalie leant her head on Mr Monk's chest as they walked along the beach (on a path of course).

"Me too." He wrapped his arms around her. "Isn't it a beautiful night?" He looked deep into her eyes, barely noticing his surroundings.

Natalie noticed this & replied, "Yes. I especially love the fire truck drowning in the Scottish lake" She swayed with him, testing to see if he was paying attention.

"Mmm…" Mr Monk was not.

Natalie laughed, leaning back, & was caught by his arms, dipping her. Mr Monk pulled her up, smiling. He had finally worked out what she had said.

"So… " They began to walk again, hands entwined & swinging. "Ready to go?" Mr Monk asked a weary Natalie.

"Not yet, I don't want this night to end." She sank down onto a nearby bench, pulling him down with her. He drew small circles on her thigh, provoking a reaction. He looked up at her, smirking. "What?" Natalie played dumb.

"Nothing, nothing." Mr Monk turned to look at the ocean, hiding his smile. Natalie ran her tongue over her teeth before yawing. "Come on, let's go home." He stood up, taking Natalie's hand & directing her back to the car.

……………………………………………………………

Arriving back at Mr Monk's place, Natalie was too tired to go home. "Come on." Mr Monk helped her out of the car & took her up the stairs, making sure to lock the car. "You can crash here."

They staggered into his apartment, seeing Julie asleep on the couch, and Shardy next to her. He led her upstairs – to his room - & gave her a tracksuit to change into before leaving so she could change.

"You can come back in now." Natalie faintly called. She was supporting herself by the bed frame, unsure whether she was sleeping there or not.

Mr Monk pulled the bed sheets back, helping her in, before going to the bathroom to change clothes himself. Some time later, he came back with his shirt, pants, & jacket neatly hung on coat hangers & he placed them into the wardrobe.

Mr Monk got into bed beside her, looking at her sleeping form, before flicking the light switch & plunging the room into darkness. Wrapping his arms around her, he had the best sleep he had had in a long time.

………………………………………………………………..

Authors note:

How cute! Please review! Thanks to all you guys for the reviews – they were all positive (YEY!) Hope you guys are liking Shardy & the mystery – I know, I'm a bit of a fail at mystery, that's why I'm romancewriter123, not mysterywriter123.

Peace out.


	10. I'm Back

Chapter Nine: I'm Back

Mr Monk slowly groaned & opened his eyes. He realised that he was completely entangled with Natalie. "Now how to do this without waking her" Mr Monk thought to himself. He contemplated moving her off him, but that would surely wake her. Mr Monk thought about trying to slide out, but that seemed impossible. In the end he just gave up & went back to sleep.

About an hour later, Natalie's eyes flickered open & she almost had a heart attack when she realised she was lying on someone. Realising it was Mr Monk, she thought back to last night. Natalie remembered the date, & the ride home, but she still had no idea how she came to be in his bed. "Now how to do this without waking him". Natalie bit her lip, this could be hard.

She began to slide her arm out from under him, careful not to make a sudden movement. Mr Monk stirred, & awoke again. "Morning." He gave her a cheesy grin.

"Morning." Natalie looked quite confused. "Uh, how did…" She trailed off, not really knowing why.

"You practically fell asleep at the wheel." Mr Monk seemed quite comfortable having Natalie on top of him, but nonetheless, she began to move next to him.

"Oh. What's the time?" Natalie changed the subject, still fatigued from last night.

"Uh…" Mr Monk turned over to the clock. "It's 9:40."

"Oh my God!" Natalie practically leapt out of bed. "We have to go, the Captain's expecting us, & we'll need to stop by my place for my clothes!" Natalie was in a panic.

Amused by this, and still half asleep (not realising that he was late) Mr Monk began to laugh.

"WHAT?" Natalie was wringing her hands.

"Nothing." Mr Monk stood up & went over to her. "It's just that you look so cute when you're worried." He enveloped her in a bear hug & began to sway.

"Uh…" Shardy was leaning against the door frame in yet another stunning outfit; blue skinny jeans, black camisole, bikers jacket done up at the neck & black high-heel, to the knee, lace up boots. Her hair was done in a quiff at the top, letting the rest cascade down her shoulders & a good part of her back. "You guys want breakfast? Or are you going to work now?" Shardy seemed wide awake after quite an uncomfortable night on the couch.

"We'd better get going, we're already quite late. But thanks." Natalie smiled at the teenager who strolled off to the kitchen.

The fact that they were late had finally registered with Mr Monk & he threw himself into an absolute flurry. "NATALIE!" This caught her off guard & she slammed into his wall in an attempt to avoid whatever could have provoked such a reaction. "WE'RE LATE! I've got to shower & dress & eat &… &… " He couldn't think of anything else to say, so he just waved his hands around for emphasis.

Natalie began to rub his back. "Mr M-" It was at these times she felt more like his nurse than kinda-girlfriend. "Adrian. Calm down. I'll let you get ready, & I'll drive back to my place & get ready myself. Then I'll come back & pick you up. Okay?" She pecked him on the lips.

Mr Monk looked incredibly lost, and his eyes were set in such a way that he looked absolutely adorable. "Okay." He whimpered, before shooing her out the door.

Natalie bounded down his stairs, almost crashing into her daughter. "MUM!" Julie leapt back, startled by her mother flying down the stairs.

"Sorry darling. We've got to go. I'm late, & Mr Monk's late, &…" She pulled her daughter by the hand, rushing downstairs & into their car.

Shardy was hanging around in the kitchen "Okay, see you soon." She addressed to no one in particular.

Shardy began to eat her dry cereal. "How can you not have milk?" She stressed to herself, and made a mental note to buy some. Just as Shardy finished, she heard some thumping, and found Mr Monk trying to make it down the stairs on one foot whilst trying to put his shoe on.

Shardy steadied him, almost falling over in the process. "Uh… Need some help there?" She raised one eyebrow before pulling his socked foot to the ground. "It's just carpet. You clean it. You're not in danger, & there evidently aren't any germs." Shardy went back to the sink & began to wash her bowl.

"Uh. Let me do that. It needs to sparkle & be shiny, & free of germs." Mr Monk took the bowl from her, but found it spotless. Shardy smirked & leant against his counter. On closer inspection, meaning he stuck his head in the bowl, he found one speck of cereal, which he scrubbed off with the nearest sponge. "There. All better."

Shardy remembered the milk. "Um, do you own any milk?" Her eyes widened as Mr Monk jumped behind a wall.

"M-Milk?" His voice trembled.

"Yeah, the stuff that comes out of cows udders…" She trailed off. Was this another one of his phobias?

Mr Monk gave a few nervous twitches, bringing his head to his shoulder "Don't say. That word."

Shardy was baffled. "What, you mean udder?" Mr Monk began to twitch repeatedly.

"Yes."

"Oookay…" Just at that second, Natalie rushed into his house, panting. By this time, Shardy had began to be a little weirded out, and jokingly backed away.

"Sorry – we're in a rush." Natalie apologised.

"Yeah. Hey, do you know why he doesn't have milk?" At this, Mr Monk jumped behind the wall again.

"Oh, it's another phobia of his." Natalie remarked, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

Mr Monk poked his head out from behind the wall. "We'd better go."

"Mmm. Me too, I'm taking the bike over to the mechanic." Shardy stood up, grabbing her helmet from the side table.

"Motorbike?" Natalie looked worried. "You're only 15."

Mr Monk turned to Shardy. "That's illegal."

"Yeah, well so is my life." She retorted in a defiant way.

"You can't ride a motorbike. It's illegal" Natalie stressed to her. Shardy sprinted out the door before they said anything else. "In high-heels too. Impressive. Come on, lets go." Natalie tugged Mr Monk by his sleeve & they went down to her car.

…………………………………………………………………..

"It looks better undone." Natalie undid his top button.

"But it's not even"

"It looks better."

Mr Monk & Natalie were fighting with his top button, her hands trying to undo it, and his trying to keep it done up. Finally giving in, Mr Monk dropped his hand.

"Ah… Glad to see that you decided to show up." The captain looked mad.

"Sorry Captain, but we- I overslept, & I had to drop Julie back h-" Natalie was getting flustered.

"Sorry" Mr Monk cut in, before pulling Natalie away to survey the wreckage.

As Mr Monk started doing his hand thing, his phone rang. Natalie rummaged through her bag & finally pulled it out. "Hello?"

"Hi Natalie, this is Sharona." Natalie smiled a victory smile.

"Oh, Hi Sharona, what's up?" Sharona could hear her slightly mocking tone through the receiver.

"I just wanted to let Adrian know that I've moved back to San Fran – things didn't work out with Trevor."

"Oh, that's too bad. Sorry he can't come to the phone, he's just a little tied up." Natalie's voice was indifferent.

"That's okay, just pass on the message please. Bye."

"Bye."

Click. Natalie laughed to herself, she had won. "Hey, Adrian!" She strolled over to him & wrapped her arms around his waist. He squirmed before zoning back in & realising it was Natalie. He turned around & kissed her.

"Hey."

"I just got off the phone with Sharona. She's moved back here."

"Oh!" His eyes lit up for a second. "Really?"

Natalie nodded her head. "I'd better let you get back to work."

Just as she said that, a black motorbike with red & gold calligraphy pulled up. On it was Shardy. She pulled off her helmet & gave the classic slow hair shake. "Good as new." She tapped her bike before chaining it up to the nearest pole.

"It's pretty brave of you to be driving under-age in front of a crowd of cops." Disher sidled up to her.

"It's pretty brave of you to be hanging around Adrian Monk even though you're trying to hide countless stalking attempts." Shardy smiled at him and walked over to Mr Monk. "Found anything?"

"Uh, well we've determined that it was set off by an automatic detonator, so it was intended for them, not you. We have leads, but they include basically anyone in a 70-mile radius."

Shardy's mobile erupted with an upbeat tune, recorded by herself. "Shardy." She greeted the voice on the other end of the line. "Oh… They did?.... She's here?... WHAT?... Um, no, I don't want to meet her… Sorry, It's just too weird… Okay, bye." Shardy turned away from the group & put her phone away.

"Go on." Shardy faked a smile.

"Well, I'm sorry to say that we can't rule you out either though, so it looks like your name won't be cleared for a while." The Captain sidled up to Mr Monk.

"Oh." Shardy looked at her feet. "Well that sucks." She went over to a group of younger male cops attempting to control the crowd.

"I'm telling you, it's not her." Mr Monk insisted to the Captain.

"I'm telling you that she is a possibility" Stottlemeyer retorted.

Natalie rubbed Mr Monks arm "I believe you." She smiled a comforting smile at him, & he leant his head on hers, gaining strange looks from the officers still not entirely sure what was going on between them.

Mr Monk went back to survey the wreckage, noticing a note left in an out-of-the-way position (under the remains of the gearbox). "Captain, I found something."

The captain used tweezers to pull it out, it wasn't charred & hadn't been in the explosion. A barely legible message was scrawled across it. "I think it says…" Stottlemeyer squinted "This was nor wcsstiq wiph… Or not." The Captain rethought.

"It says, this was for… Uh, messing with… I can't make out the rest of it, I think it's a name. Can we send it to the lab to get the full message & check for DNA?" Mr Monk looked up at the Captain.

"Yeah, I'll send it back now. Have you found anything else Monk?" Stottlemeyer paused for Mr Monk's response.

"No… Not yet. But I will." Stottlemeyer walked away, excited about 'his' discovery.

Shardy bumped the captain on her way back to the wreckage. "Watch it! Evidence!" Captain indicated to the note he had bagged, clearly annoyed.

"Watch it! Suspect!" She mocked him, pointing to herself before smirking.

"Whatever. You shouldn't even be here." Stottlemeyer stalked off, leaving Shardy laughing.

"Hey guys!" Shardy waved, altogether happier now that she had found people who cared about her.

"Hey Shardy" Mr Monk & Natalie addressed her.

"I see you found some note or something. The guy must have snuck in last night to put it there. The street camera's giving any clues?" She looked around.

"Oh! We haven't checked them yet." Mr Monk ran up to Disher, who was trying to chat up some blonde trying to see what was going on. "Randy? I need you to get the tapes from the security camera from last night."

Randy jerked his head up. "No problemo." He tried to act cool.

"Thanks." Mr Monk left.

"You know, I'm kind of a big shot around here." He wiggled his eyebrows, causing the blonde to walk off. "Everytime!" Randy cursed himself & went over to the captain.

………………………………………………………………….

"Long day huh?" Natalie looked up at Mr Monk, who she was lying half-on & half-off on the couch.

"Mmm" He agreed, running his fingers through her hair. "So Shardy's friends with Julie now?" Mr Monk found it hard to believe.

"Yeah, despite the age difference, 2 years, they get along really well." Natalie nuzzled his neck. Suddenly the doorbell rang, frightening the new couple.

"I got it!" Shardy leapt down the stairs in her haste to avoid the couple having to move for Julie. She flung open the door, her eyes widened at the sight & she crumpled to the floor unconscious, all within the span of a few seconds.


	11. The Door Challenge

The Door Challenge:

Any of you think you know who was at the door? PM me, and if you get it right, I'll give you a shout out in my next chapter. (What an awesome prize – kidding).

Later guys, hope I hear from you,

Love RomanceWriter123


	12. It Never Happened

Chapter ten: It never happened:

Shardy groaned & rubbed her eyes. She looked around, why was she in a hospital? Suddenly a figure loomed up over her, still half-asleep & disoriented, she suppressed a scream. "Wha-?" Shardy rubbed her face with her cold hand, waking herself up a little.

"Hello there." The figure came into focus, & Shardy saw that it was a doctor. "I'm Dr. Kraig, I've been checking up on you for the last little while. You've been unconscious for a few hours now. Do you remember why?" He was acting as if she was a child.

Shardy thought back. She had run down the stairs, & flung the door open to… That Woman. She almost spat it out loud. "Uh, I guess I just moved a little to quickly." Shardy covered it up.

"Of course, of course." Dr Kraig sounded far from convinced. "Shall I send your visitors in?" He tilted his head.

"Yeah, I guess." She wondered if That Woman was one of them.

"Hey Shardy!" Natalie, Mr Monk, Julie, & a boy about a year younger entered the room. "Feeling better? You gave us quite a scare." Mr Monk ran his hand along her face.

"WOW! Mr Monk, you've changed a lot!" The young boy piped up from the back. Pushing through the small crowd, he stuck out his hand. "Hi! I'm Benji Fleming."

Shardy crinkled her eyebrows, having never met Benji before, but she shook his hand out of common courtesy. "Uh hi… I'm Shardy." She tried to get out of bed, but there was a mess of cords connected to her that was obstructing that action. Rolling her eyes, she gently pulled them out, gripping the railing of the bed for support. "If you guys don't mind, I'd like to change…"

They obliged & hurried out the door, closing it behind them. Shardy slipped off her hospital gown, & pulled on her denim mini-shorts, white singlet coming just below her belly button with a slit down the middle showing off her cleavage, and cork platform shoes with white material straps zigzagging up to her ankle. She went across to the bathroom, washing off her old crusty make-up, deciding on a natural look. Shardy fluffed her hair until she looked presentable, and opened the door for the group patiently waiting outside.

"Hey, I'm ready." She faked a smile at them, her eyes darting around the room, looking for That Woman. Shardy's eyes settled on her as she exited the bathroom. She glanced around, obviously uncomfortable to be there.

"Hey, Sharona! Over here." Mr Monk waved the woman over, and she reluctantly obliged. "This is Shardy, the one I told you about in the car" he leaned closer "Her parents abandoned her when she was three – she's 15 now" Mr Monk indicated to the young teen. "Shardy, this is Sharona, my old assistant." He looked between the two of them, expecting them to shake hands, but Shardy's eyes were cold as ice, and Sharona's were fearful. Mr Monk whispered to Sharona "Don't take it personally, she just hates some people."

"So, Sharona. Is Benji your only kid?" Shardy looked directly into Sharona's eyes, challenging her.

"Uh- um- y- yes." Sharona stuttered, worrying.

"So, like to go for a walk?" Shardy was maintaining her composure perfectly, not showing a glimpse of emotion, making Sharona shake in her stilettos. Shardy raised one eyebrow & began to walk, with Sharona scurrying behind.

"So, Shardy!" Dr Kraig stuck his head into the room, trying to be funny, but almost falling over when he realised she was gone. "Uh, have you seen my patient?" He was looking terrified. "She had TUBES in her! Where could she go?" Dr Kraig seemed at a loss.

"Well she pulled out her tubes, got dressed, & walked off." Benji patted the doctor's arm before laughing.

Sharona & Shardy made it outside, sitting on the nearby fence. "What the hell?" Shardy gave the older blonde a death stare. "I'm sorry, Trevor was abusing me, and he was doing the same to you – you were almost beaten to death, but he wouldn't give you up, &- &- I just panicked, I was young, alone, scared. I had no idea what to do! I wanted a better life for you. I left you, thinking someone would pick you up. I always knew you were still alive, no matter what Trevor said. He attacked me when I said she was gone, and I still have the scars, but I never wanted it to be you with them." Sharona began to cry. "I'm so, so sorry! But you had a better chance out in the world than with him."

Shardy looked up at her. This was the woman who left her when she was only 3, but the woman who did it for her own good. She licked her lips, contemplating her next move.

Shardy was about to speak when an annoying voice rang out "Oi!" Dr Kraig was frantically waving from the 3rd story window. "Come back! I haven't finished." Shardy shook her head. What was this guy's problem. She looked around, finding a small rock, and hurled it at Dr Kraig, purposely avoiding him, but striking the window ledge near his hand, causing him to jump back in fear.

"Loser," Shardy muttered to herself.

Sharona giggled a little before turning to Shardy. "Do you forgive me?"

"I don't know, I mean…" Shardy trailed off. "I guess, but- I don't want to live with you or anything, I don't really want to be your kid, no offense. But if we could just, you know, get on?" She gave a weak smile, not wanting to ruin the friendships between the 3 adults - as she was living with Mr Monk. Maybe Shardy would like her in time.

"Uh, kiddo? You should have the needles in you now!" Dr Kraig yelled again from the window. Shardy heaved a large sigh, and pelted another rock at him, this time striking him squarely in the chest – not too hard. "THAT'S ABUSE!" Dr Kraig squealed before disappearing from the window.

"God, he is annoying – why is he my doctor?" Shardy thumped her head on a nearby wall.

Sharona gave an amused smile "Hey, we should probably get back up there."

The pair walked back up to their friends, chatting about various topics, with Sharona still feeling a little disliked.

"You okay mum?" Benji took her arm.

"Yeah." Sharona avoided his eyes.

"What was that all about?" Julie pulled Shardy to one side.

"I'll tell you later." Shardy's eyes had never left Sharona, and now Julie's eyes followed her gaze.

"Is she…" Julie squinted her eyes.

"I'll tell you later." Shardy ended their discussion, walking off to deal with Dr Kraig. "I'm checking out now." She looked the Doctor squarely in the eyes, almost as if she was challenging him.

"NOOOO!" He wailed. "You have many illnesses, and bullets in your body!" Coming from Dr Kraig, it was almost laughable.

"Yeah? Well thaz whadya get when ya broughd'up in'a streeds!" Shardy's Alley slang was becoming more & more apparent as her anger expanded.

"You can't leave! You haven't officially been allowed to leave!" Dr Kraig was losing the control over the situation, causing a crowd to gather around the pair.

"Look! I'm'a leave this dang 'ospidal this minute, and'ere ain't nufin y'all gonna do bout it. So gimmi the release statement, or I'm'a go Big Rich on ya." Shardy was on the verge of belting him. She had had a tough day, and didn't want any more obsticles.

"Big Rich?" Dr Kraig tried to make light of the situation with a funny face, but it was too much for Shardy. Much to the amusement of the looking on crowd, she grabbed him by his collar, shoved him into the wall, and started pounding him – before being pulled off by a grand total of 6 men. Dr Kraig was sobbing frantically, screaming that it was abuse.

"I'm going to be arrested now, aren't I?" Shardy had regained her composure, and returned to speaking in her posh, slightly English, accent. She didn't look the least bit worried, as she had been arrested before.

"Yeah." Mr Monk bit his lip. "It's illegal to attack someone, no matter how annoying they may be."

"Stupid laws." Shardy rolled her eyes. "So… You going to press charges?" She looked down at the injured Doctor.

"Noo…" He seemed to be barely conscious.

"Sweet. Let me know if you change your mind." Shardy turned to the counter. "I'd like to check out, my name's Sharona."

"Last name?" The nurse noisily chewed her gum.

Shardy turned to look at Sharona. "I don't have one."

The nurse gave her an unbelieving stare, but went to check on the computer. "Hmm"

"Yeah, I really do exist. Now I'd like to check out." Shardy leant on the counter.

"O-kay. There you go." The Nurse typed some things into the computer and sent Shardy on her way.

The three adults & Benji walked off, with Julie & Shardy hanging behind. "So, are you gonna tell me what's going on?"

"Uh…" Shardy bit her lip. "I, uh, found my biological mother…" She looked down.

"Wow." Julie couldn't believe it.

"Yeah, it's Sharona." Shardy looked nervous. "But we decided it would be best not to act like family, just to forget about it."

"Wow!" Julie was dumbfounded.

"Can you say anything but wow?" Shardy giggled.

"Sorry, it's just big news." Julie put her arm around her friend.

The 6 of them finally reached their cars. "Well, I guess I'll see you later. Bye Sharona, Benji." Mr Monk waved them off as Natalie, Julie, and Shardy got into the car.

……………………………………………………………..

Authors note:

Okay, congrats to: AbFabMonk, MonkWriter & Fanomonk, who all got the door challenge correct. Wooh! Thanks to you guys for entering, this is your fantastic prize… It was a fairly obvious one though, but that's just me. Hope you guys like this one.


	13. A Break

Authors note:

I'm not from San Francisco, I'm not even from the Northern hemisphere, and from what I can tell, San Fran's on the coast (watch me be wrong) so if it isn't, just humour me & pretend that it is, otherwise it won't make much sense.

For the record, cheating on someone would be a pretty good example of emotional abuse – but I thought I remembered his physically abusing her. Sorry about that, I guess I just read too much fan fiction about the abuse.

Somewhere in this chapter I become a little more American, becoming about 40% now. For the record I'm from Australia. I begin saying mom, and leaving out 'u's. Deal with it.

Chapter Eleven: A Break:

"So…" Shardy turned to Mr Monk, who was arranging the pieces of evidence to try and piece together the car bombing. "I'm gonna take a break from all this, get out of town for a while." She brought her knees to her chest & wrapped her arms around them.

"You can't leave! They'll arrest you for sure!" Mr Monk stood up.

'Okay, well what if you come, they couldn't arrest me for running away & stuff, could they?" Shardy sounded desperate.

"Fine, But what about Natalie?"

"Natalie & Julie too."

"And Sharona & Benji will want to come."

Shardy squirmed. "Um, can they not?" She wrinkled her brow.

"Okay. So where would we go?" Mr Monk looked very nervous at the thought of leaving his domain, but wanted to do it for Shardy.

"Some of my friends own a beach house down the coast, they say I can have it for a week if I want it. So are you in?"

"I'll check with Natalie & see." Mr Monk was entirely uncomfortable with going to the beach, but felt he should do it for his 3 girls.

"Thankyou so much!" Shardy leapt up & wrapped her arms around his neck. Instinctively he squirmed, but didn't pull away.

Shardy broke the hug. "You should call them – next week's the start of summer vacation… If you're not busy that is…" Shardy smiled hopefully.

Mr Monk closed his eyes. "Alright." He turned to his phone, dialling Natalie's number as slowly as he could.

"Hey." Shardy wrapped her arm around him. "Thankyou for doing this for me. I know you hate the beach."

"It's fine, really." He pressed the last button & the phone began to ring.

"Hello?" Julie answered the phone.

"Hi Julie, is your mum there?" Mr Monk sat down on the couch.

"Yeah, hold on." Julie & her mother exchanged the phone.

"Hey Adrian." Natalie smiled.

"Hi. I was wondering if um- next week um- you & um- Julie wanted to go to um- a beach house with Shardy & um- me?" Mr Monk sounded so nervous that Natalie couldn't refuse.

"I'd love to! I'll just check with Julie." Natalie put her hand over her the phone & called out to Julie. "Yeah, she wants to, so when are we leaving, where are we going, what should I bring…" Natalie trailed off.

"Why don't you & Julie come over & we'll sort everything out." Mr Monk felt relieved.

"Okay, I'll see you in a few. Bye."

"Bye." Mr Monk hung up the phone, a grin stuck on his face.

"So I take that as a yes?" Shardy was practically jumping up & down.

"Yep." Mr Monk leaned back into the couch.

10 minutes and 34 seconds later, Natalie rung Mr Monk's doorbell.

"Hey." Shardy greeted the pair.

"Hi." The two teens hugged, and Natalie went inside, settling down next to Mr Monk.

"So, when are we leaving?" Julie plopped down on the couch next to her mother, Shardy squeezing in beside her.

"What about this Sunday? We'll get back about a week later if that's okay?" Shardy craned her neck to look at her companions.

"Um…" Natalie pulled out her diary & looked at what her schedule held in store for her. "Yeah, that's fine. We can do that." She smiled at Mr Monk. "So, where are we going?"

"About 5 hours down the coast, 2 hours north from LA." Shardy looked hopeful. "Is that alright?"

Natalie sighed. "I suppose so, but I can't drive the whole way."

"Oh, right. I can drive for a bit when you get tired." Shardy offered.

"You're underage!" Natalie stressed.

"I can still drive, and it's not like any cops are gonna be watching!" Shardy pleaded.

After careful deliberation with Mr Monk, Natalie made a decision. "Fine, but ONLY when I get tired.

Shardy pumped her arm in the air. "YES!" She hi-fived Julie.

"So what should I bring?" Natalie asked the question that had been on everyone's minds.

"Towels, beach-y clothes, swimmers, the usual. There's 2 jetski's, 2 surfboards, and random beach toys in the garage down there. The house is made up & everything." Shardy explained.

"Cool! Only 3 days!" Julie gave a little dance, as it was thursday night.

"Well we'd better get going, thanks for the trip." Natalie gave Mr Monk a goodnight peck, and went to leave with Julie.

"Bye guys." Shardy called out.

"Bye" they responded, the door closing shortly after.

……………………………………………………………………….

"Sun cream?" Mr Monk looked at his list.

"Check!" The three girls screamed at him, as this was the fourth time he had gone over the list.

Mr Monk raised his hands in defeat. "Fine, let's just get in the car." He grabbed two of his 6 bags and tried to get out the door & down to the car.

"Hold on!" Julie & Shardy blocked the door, a mischievous smirk planted on their face.

Mr Monk's face turned white. "What?" he said slowly.

"You're not taking those bags." They folded their arms.

"I'm… Not?" Mr Monk was finding this hard to comprehend.

"No, you're taking this one." Julie picked up of her mum's.

"Women's clothes?" He held on tightly to his bags.

"No… They're men's clothes…" They said slowly, pushing the bag aside. "Now!" Shardy yelled, and Natalie held Mr Monk back as Shardy & Julie stole his bags, taking them back upstairs.

Mr Monk gave his puppy dogface to Natalie. "NOT gonna work!" She tapped his nose, causing him to smile.

"Now we can go." The two teenagers bounded downstairs.

After finally loading all the bags into the truck., they piled into the car.

"No, no! Shardy & Julie sit in the back & I'll sit in the front… You know… to be symmetrical…" Mr Monk rolled his shoulders.

"UGH! Fine! Let's just go!" Julie drearily called from the back seat, where she sat, waiting to go.

"I can't believe we're leaving at 3am, what is this? But at least we all went to sleep early…" She turned to Julie, who was nodding off. "Well most of us at least."

_2 hours later…_

"Did you want me to take the wheel now?" Shardy piped up from the backseat, trying her best to sound cheerful & awake to take the stress of an exhausted Natalie.

"No. But you probably should." After driving for 3 hours, Natalie had driven for almost all the trip & was practically falling asleep at the wheel.

"So, you & Mr Monk should probably sit in the back – you know, to make it even." Julie gave a mischievous smile, obviously loving the romance going on between them.

"Yeah." Mr Monk got out of the car, helping Natalie into the back.

_1 hour later…_

"And up on our left we see…" Julie held the invisible microphone up to Shardy's mouth.

"More…" She gave a drum-roll on the steering wheel "NATURE!" They screamed together, laughing. They had to do something to keep themselves amused - after all, Natalie was sleeping on Mr Monk, who was lying back between the door & the seat, half-asleep with his arms wrapped around her & stroking her face.

_1 hour later._

"We're here!" Shardy pulled into the driveway of the luxurious holiday home with the killer view.

"Look at them, that's so cute!" Julie had turned completely around in her seat & was now watching her mom & Mr Monk sleep.

"Lets just wake 'em up & bring our bags inside." Shardy got out of the car, turning it off & losing her balance as she got out. "Woah!" She gripped the door to steady herself. Shardy opened the back door & shook the couple awake. "Hey, wakey-wakey."

Natalie groaned and opened her eyes. "Do I have to move?" She snuggled into Mr Monk, only half-aware that her mattress was human.

"Just a bit to the left." Mr Monk groaned & shifted a bit.

"Oh, sorry." Natalie had fully awoken, and clambered out of the car, going to the boot to get the luggage.

"Woah!" Natalie had caught sight of the view? You'd have to be a millionaire to afford this place.

"Uh, lets go with that…" Shardy looked away.

"Ohhh-kaay…" Natalie raised her eyebrows, but went for the bags instead.

After finishing loading the bags, they sunk down on the incredibly comfy couch to watch one of the abundance of movies on the 40-inch flat-screen tv. "So who are the people who own this place?" Julie whispered to Shardy.

"Uh." Shardy looked over at Mr Monk & Natalie, who were engaged in a make-out session. "This used to belong to the 3rd gang I was in, but they left it to me when the last of them were arrested," she whispered back.

"There's no corpses or anything here… Is there?" Julie looked worried.

"Nah, I scoped it out when they left – no mysteries or anything." Shardy rubbed Julies back.

"Awesome." Julie nodded her head.

They turned back to the movie.


	14. How Clones ruin vacations

Authors note:

Ugh… School has been full on. It's finally over & I'll be writing a lot more. DW, I haven't given up…. I got a bit over-excited with my uh- 'drabbles' (using the term loosely). I apologise for Mr Monk being a bit OOC in the last episode (in the couch scene).

I got seasons 1-6 of Monk the other day as well as the premier episode (that's the candidate one right?). HAH! I can finally watch 'Mr Monk is on the run' The awesome kiss scene at the end… *happily signs*.

I also have to thank MonkWriter for the inspiration (don't sue!).

……………………………………………………………………

Chapter twelve: How Clones ruin vacations

Julie & Shardy were stretched out on one side of the spacious couch that wrapped around 2 of the walls of the living room, the sleep screen of the DVD player was bouncing around the television screen. On the other side of the couch, Mr Monk & Natalie were curled around the corner, his arms around her clutching a pillow. Their bags were still strewn across the foyer, the 3 bedrooms untouched.

_The next morning_…

THUMP! Julie woke up as she hit the floor. "OW!" She rubbed her head & stretched her limbs. "We slept the night on the couch!" Julie smiled up at Shardy, who was trying to keep her hysterics under wraps to let the adults sleep.

"That was such a fail!" Shardy couldn't contain herself & ended up falling off the couch onto Julie in a fit of hysterics.

Natalie woke up to the laughter of the teenagers at 7am, far too early for vacation. "What are you guys doing?" She opened her eyes, looking over at an empty couch before casting her glance down to the floor, where Julie was trying to push Shardy off her (to no avail I might add).

"Uh… We kinda fell off the couch" Shardy explained.

Natalie just shook her head, struggling to stay on the couch herself as Mr Monk awoke. "Ugh… Morning." Mr Monk rubbed his eyes & stretched, almost pushing Natalie off the couch. "Sorry".

"Ohmygod!" Shardy squealed & jumped up. "Best waves at this time. I'm gonna go for a surf. Y'all wanna come?" She rummaged through her suitcase, pulling out her patriotic bikini & ¾ wetsuit. She pushed her hair back, her bangs falling back onto her face, & ran to the bathroom, narrowly missing a pot-plant.

"Uh-" Julie looked at her mum hopefully.

Natalie sighed. "Go ahead." Julie squealed, grabbed her black & gold bikini & rushed off to the bathroom as well. Natalie turned to Mr Monk, which was a difficult activity as they were both lying on the couch. "We should probably get up too, and I could do with a swim." She walked over to the huge window & drew back the blinds, surprised by the warmth & brightness. "What about you?" Natalie knew the answer, but asked anyway.

"But the sand… & the water… & the aquatic organisms…" Mr Monk rolled his shoulders.

"Well at least come down." Natalie walked back to the couch and knelt in front of him. "For me?" she batted her eyelashes.

Shardy ran on her tiptoes into the living room. "HAVE YOU SEEN THE WAVES?" she squealed, indicating that they were incredible.

Julie ran out soon after Shardy, making a beeline to Shardy's suitcase & taking out her spare wetsuit. "You guys coming?"

"uh…"

"Yep!" Natalie cut Mr Monk off.

"I guess so." He finished, abruptly being pulled up by Natalie & dragged to his suitcase.

"I fear to open this" he shifted uncomfortably & pulled out a wipe to open the case. "AH!" Mr Monk was in horror of what he saw (T-shirts, jeans, board-shorts, thongs, sandshoes, bathing suits & a variety of hats & undergarments).

"What?" The three girls stood in an identical position – one hand on hip & leaning on one leg - with equally ticked off expressions. "You don't like?" Shardy smirked.

"Oh, just go change." Natalie thrust a swimsuit, pair of boardshorts, pair of thongs, & sun hat into his hands, pushing him in the direction of the bathroom.

"Bu-"

"They're new, and we washed them three times by your system." Julie cut in, effectively ending any protests by the "man" of the house. Mr Monk put his head down, muttering to himself as he went off to change.

"We'll meet you down there, kay?" Shardy looked over at Natalie, waiting for her approval.

"Alright. We'll be down soon." Natalie sent the pair off, Shardy grabbing a set of keys from the hook near the back door. They made their way to the garage, opening the side closest to the beach & finding a wide array of water-vehicles & toys.

"Holy…" Julie's eyes widened in wonder, but Shardy simply strolled in, dodging the various booby traps some kids had set up.

"Hey, watch yourself." Shardy kicked a broken surfboard out of the way & motioned for Julie to follow. Warily, Julie tiptoed through the garage, on the look out for any dead guys.

"Heads up!" Shardy through one of the few surfboards in good condition towards Julie, who awkwardly caught it & struggled to get it out the door. "You've surfed before right?" Shardy plonked her board on the sand & began to stretch.

"Uh, no… This is my first time." Julie looked embarrassed.

"Nah, it's easy really, just keep yourself centred." Shardy waved violently to a boat in the water, quite close to the shore, and as they recognised her, they sped towards the shore.

"Hey Spike, Madds, Dagga. I missed you guys." Shardy practically jumped into their arms

"Shard! Good ta see-ya babe." Spike gave a smile that would make any girl weak at the knees.

"Okay. So this is Julie" Shardy pushed her forward & she shyly waved. "And those guys are Natalie & Mr Monk" she motioned to Natalie trying to get Mr Monk on the beach. Natalie was wearing a black bikini with white patterns; fly sunglasses & a wide brimmed straw hat (almost identical to Mr Monk's). She was wearing black thongs, carefully chosen to compliment her swimsuit, & in her arm she held a large white bag containing four beach towels, bottles of water, and a tube of sunscreen. Mr Monk was squirming in his grey thongs, plain black board shorts & concealed speedos. He was clutching his hat in front of him in an attempt

"Cool." Madds seemed to have a new jersey accent, the only of the bunch.

"Sweet." Shardy gave them a head-nod.

"So, you single?" Dagga began walking towards Julie, but Shardy thumped him in the chest, her face ice-cold.

"Dagga… You have 2 girlfriends" Shardy squeezed the bridge of her nose. Just as she said that, the name Shardy was being screamed from down the beach. "Oh, COME ON!" Shardy was getting annoyed after about 5 minutes of it. "I'll be right back." She dropped her surfboard

"Hey! Who are they?" Natalie ran up to Julie & wrapped her arms around her. Julie squirmed away, trying to act cool in front of the guys.

"Mom!" Julie rolled her eyes. "This is Madds, Dagga & Spike ." She explained.

"Damn kids" Shardy stalked up the beach, thrusting the smouldering gun into Dagga's chest.

"You are a kid" Natalie laughed, Mr Monk rubbing her bare shoulders.

"Right…" Shardy patted Natalie arm.

"You seem quite popular here." Mr Monk observed.

Shardy laughed. "Yeah..." Madds, Dagga & Spike all smirked.

"What did you do?" Mr Monk furrowed his brow.

"Nothing… I'm just that cool" Shardy bobbed her head in time to imaginary music.

"Yeah…" Mr Monk was finding this hard to believe.

"Okay. Well if we're done with all this, we're gonna go for a surf guys." Julie addressed the pack.

"Yeah, but be careful!" Natalie shouted to the 2 girls who were running into the surf, boards under their arms. Mr Monk fidgeted with his hat, the one he was holding over his chest in an attempt to conceal himself. Natalie ripped from his hands & stuck it on his head.

"Do I have to come?" Mr Monk whined.

"Yes!" Natalie pouted. "For me?" She looked up at him with puppy-dog eyes.

Mr Monk shook his head "Why does that always work on me?"

"Because I'm cute." Natalie grabbed his hand & pulled him along the beach, to a spot near the water. Mr Monk was on his tiptoes, trying to avoid the sand.

"It's so beautiful." Natalie gazed out onto the water; the waves crashed onto the sand & swirled around her feet. Mr Monk had jumped back by this point. She sighed & turned to spread the towels out on the beach.

Mr Monk sank down onto the one on the left, trying to brush all the sand of it. Natalie dropped her bag onto the sand, kicking off her thongs & sitting down on the other towel. "I can't believe I woke up at 7am! This is supposed to be a vacation." Natalie rubbed her face with her hands.

Mr Monk ran his hand through her hair. "technically it was accidental" he sympathized. Natalie smiled & rooted through her bag, pulling out the sunscreen, applying it to her legs, stomach, chest, arms & face.

"Can you do my back Adrian?" Natalie handed Mr Monk the sunscreen. He squeezed some into his hands & rubbed it along her flawless skin, enjoying every moment. Natalie was tingling at his gentle touch, immediately relaxing at the feel of his hands. "Hey, you want some?" She rolled onto her side.

"Yeah, thanks." Natalie squirted the sunscreen onto his back, massaging him as she rubbed it in. "Have you been working out?" Natalie tried. Mr Monk looked up, silently laughing before capturing her lips with his. When they pulled away, Mr Monk lay back down & wrapped his arm around her, her head resting on his bicep.

A while later, about an hour, Shardy & Julie came out of the water dripping wet, with their surfboards in tow. "You said it was easy!" Julie yelled over the surf.

"You're just un-co!" Shardy teased, before getting whacked with a surfboard. "Hey!" The pair chased each other around the beach for a while, before falling into the sand next to Natalie & Mr Monk, the grains clinging to their dripping bodies.

Mr Monk's phone rang, the default ring tone piercing the peaceful mood. He gently sat up from under Natalie, placing her head back on the towel, and rooted through her bag for his cell. "Hello? This is Adrian… Monk"

"I know who it is Adrian, I called you!" A New Jersey accent was came from the other end.

"Sharona?" Mr Monk questioned.

"Who else calls you?" Mr Monk could sense Sharona rolling her eyes.

"Well there's Natalie… Julie, and Shardy, and… Leland, Randy… &-" Mr Monk was cut off

"Never mind. Where are you?" I rung your home phone like, 5 times yesterday, seriously, where are you?" Sharona sounded annoyed.

"OH!" Mr Monk realised he had forgotten to tell her about their little vacation. "Um, about… 2 hours north of L.A?" It came out more of a question than he intended.

"WHAT? Did you plan on telling me before you left? How long with you be gone?" Sharona seemed quite mad.

"Uh, sorry. It was kinda spontaneous, I guess we just forgot, in the flurry of it all, to tell some people." Mr Monk tried.

"What? How could you FORGET to tell me?" Sharona practically screamed at him. By this time, Natalie could hear Sharona & lay him back down, stroking his hair. Mr Monk stayed silent, but Julie and Shardy could be heard talking in the background. "Wait, who's with you?"

"Uh, Natalie, Julie, and Shardy." Mr Monk replied, relaxing under Natalie's touch.

"Okay, look, whatever. GoodBYE Adrian!" Sharona hung up the phone & thumped it down on the table. How could he not tell her, let alone invite her.

"That went well…" Mr Monk sarcastically commented, earning a sympathetic look from Natalie.

"Awww, Baby!" She cooed, rubbing his chest & kissing his nose. Mr Monk laughed, squirming.

"Hey mom?" Julie called. "Is it okay if Shardy & I hang with the guys?"

Natalie jumped back. "Yeah, I suppose, but be back by 4!" She yelled to the pair, who were running of to a nearby net, beginning a game of beach volleyball. "Well, it looks like we have the day to ourselves…" Natalie seductively ran a finger down his chest, causing Mr Monk to chuckle.

Suddenly a phone erupted once more, this time Natalie's. "Hello?"

"Hi Natalie. It's Stottlemeyer. We just found a tape from the police security camera of Shardy stealing the evidence from the case – we got a clear view of her. It's dated 3am this morning. There's also one earlier of her breaking into her house & taking some things from her room. We need you to bring Shardy in." The captain informed Natalie.

"What? No! She couldn't have stolen it, she-" Stottlemeyer cut her off.

"Look, I know it's hard to believe, but camera's don't lie!"

"Well obviously they DO! Shardy's been with us, 5 hours down the coast, since yesterday afternoon!" Natalie retaliated.

"Well maybe she drove down & back!" Leland countered.

"We woke up at 7!"

"Plane?"

"We were all sleeping in the one room, & Julie was practically lying on her!"

"Wait, why were you in the same room?" The Captain asked.

"Oh, we fell asleep watching a movie." Natalie explained.

"Who is it?" Mr Monk whispered to Natalie.

"It's the Captain, he says Shardy stole the evidence at 3am this morning."

"What, no-"

"Yeah, I've already been through that." Natalie interrupted, Mr Monk grabbing the phone.

"Okay, look. There are two ways this could have gone, 1; Shardy could be guilty & sent a fake her up, and 2; Shardy is innocent & is being set up." Mr Monk drummed his fingers on Natalie's arm. "But how do we tell?" He wondered.

"DNA tests in her room?" Natalie offered.

"Okay, I'm going to put you on loudspeaker." Mr Monk warned, pressing a button & setting the phone down. "That wouldn't work because there'd be DNA of both of them in there…" Mr Monk thought for a while before adding "Are there any relatives of her anywhere?"

"No, she doesn't know who her family is. WHY are these things so HARD!" The Captain practically yelled.

Mr Monk rubbed his temple. "Well… I guess we could come back…" He sounded so reluctant, that if it wasn't a matter of murder, Stottlemeyer would have dismissed the idea without a second thought.

Stottlemeyer sighed in unison with Natalie. "I hate to do this to you guys, but we have a potential murderer on our hands, so…" He trailed off.

"Yeah, yeah." Natalie was ticked off "We'll go pack." She ran over to the teens & told them the bad news, leaving Mr Monk alone with Stottlemeyer.

"Bye." Mr Monk sounded equally annoyed, and snapped the phone shut.

………………………………………………………………….

Author's Note:

Heh, take that brain, I discovered a mystery… Write back, tell me if you like it or want to lump it, but please don't ruin it for the few fans that I have!

Later peops,

RW123.


	15. No bond stronger than family

Authors note:

Sorry about the LONG wait, I just felt too lazy to do stuff. I can't be bothered giving an excuse.

Sorry about the awfulness of this chapter, I'm not one for mysteries. I think I'll just stick to drabbles (Or what I try to fit in that category).

R&R my songfic or I will spork you! I need to hear what you thought of it so I can change & improve my… song-fic-yness?

Chapter Thirteen: No bond stronger than family:

"Do we have to leave?" Julie complained as her mother dragged her back to the beach house.

"Yes, I can't just leave you here!" Natalie stressed. "Now go pack!" She gently pushed her daughter into the house.

Meanwhile, Mr Monk was trying to find the best way to break this to Shardy. "We need to leave." He said after a moment of silence.

"They want to arrest me, don't they?" Shardy closed her eyes. "Don't worry, I'll come peacefully."

"No, no. They want to arrest the you that isn't you, but they haven't found her yet & we don't know if you are actually you, or a you that you payed to be you whilst you robbed the station." Mr Monk tried to explain.

"We have a long drive ahead of us, why don't you explain it then?" Shardy got up & went to pack.

………………………………………………………………

"Alrighty!" The captain clapped his hands together. "Shardy, this is of the utmost importance in the case. Do you have ANY family whatsoever that are related to you in any biological way?"

Shardy looked over at Julie, communicating for Julie to stay silent through her eyes. Shardy chewed her lip & slowly looked Stottlemeyer in the eyes, opening her mouth about to speak, when Sharona crashed through the door. "I'M HERE!"

"Sorry!" Julie looked nervous.

Shardy turned to face Julie. "I'm going to kill you." She uttered, slowly advancing on her friend who was stricken with fear.

"If you didn't, you'd go to jail!" Julie squealed.

"I'd take jail any day." Shardy growled, turning away.

"Um… Does anyone want to tell me why I'm here, and I'm assuming it has something to do with her." Sharona pointed at Shardy, worried by the current scene.

"Julie? You seem to know…" Shardy coldly addressed her. "Why don't you tell us?"

"Sharona is…" Julie shrunk into her mother. "Shardy's biological mother."

"Is it true?" The captain saw hope.

"No," Shardy lied. "I just said that to stop her from bugging me."

"You do realise that you'll be arrested for obstruction of justice, assault of police officers, with-holding information, owning unauthorised weapons, and various other offences if you don't tell me the truth. So, do you have anything to say?" Stottlemeyer hoped that this would make Shardy confess.

Shardy turned to Sharona, 'I can't do this to her' she thought. 'She has too much here, and I can't ruin it for her.' "No, but I'd like to confess." Shardy took a deep breath. "I stole those things. I did it because… I bombed my family. I didn't go to the beach house, I sent a decoy." Shardy put out her hands. "So you can arrest me, for all of it." Her composure was ice cold, she wasn't letting on a single emotion, but inside she was breaking up.

The captain cuffed her & began speaking quietly to her. Mr Monk walked over to Sharona, "Why didn't you stop this?" He stared directly at her. "You know your daughter's innocent." Mr Monk lowered his voice.

"I-I don't know!" Sharona burst into tears, going in for a hug, but Mr Monk pulled back.

"You need to fix this, Sharona. You can't let this happen." Mr Monk folded his arms.

"You're right, but it's too-" She was cut off.

"NO Sharona, you need to fix this NOW!" Mr Monk walked off.

"Wait!" Sharona addressed the captain. "She is my daughter."

Stottlemeyer rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Okay. We need DNA samples from the scene of the robbery, Shardy, and Sharona. We need to tell if this Shardy is the real Shardy, and we need to tell whether she stole the evidence." The Captain sent a team on their way to the beach house & took Sharona & Shardy in for the test.

"Why did you confess?" Sharona quietly asked her daughter.

"I didn't want to ruin things for you. You have all these friends, and I'm just this bad-egg. I didn't want people to know you abandoned me. It's alright for me, I have nothing to live for, but you have everything. You have a son, you can have any man you want, you have a great life. I didn't want to take it all away from you." Shardy was emotionless.

"Honey…" Sharona went to rub her shoulder.

"Please don't." Shardy walked over to another wall & leant against it.

"Okay, we're ready for you." The pair were escorted into a room.

……………………………………………………….......

"Okay guys, the tests are back. Are you ready?" Randy asked.

"Yes Randy, we're all ready, just tell us!" One exasperated Captain answered.

"Okay," Randy smiled. "This is the real Shardy." He pointed at the teenager in the holding cell. She is the daughter of Sharona Fleming & was at the beach house at the time of the robbery. BUT… She could have hired someone to do her dirty work."

"Have we checked her phone records?" Stottlemeyer asked.

"Yes, the only calls from Monk's house have been to Natalie, you, Monk's cell, and we've checked out all the rest."

"Cell?"

"Doesn't have one." Came Randy's reply.

"It's never this easy is it, Randy?" the Captain leant against the wall. After a moment, he patted Randy's back & walked off to the robbery scene.

"Found anything, Monk?" Captain leant against the doorframe.

"The place hasn't been searched, so they already knew where it would be. Although they broke in, indicating that they didn't have a key. Have you checked for fingerprints?" Mr Monk said all this whilst still looking around.

"Yeah, we don't have any unidentified prints, and there is no other DNA that we've found." Stottlemeyer stepped into the room.

"Can we take a look at her room? You said they hit there too." Mr Monk stood up.

"Yeah, come on." The captain beckoned for them to follow.

………………………………………………………….

"Alright, this is her room." Stottlemeyer swung open the door & stepped aside.

"So the neighbours confirmed that she was there?" Mr Monk asked.

"Yep, one says that she even talked to them." Randy boasted.

"So what does that mean?" Mr Monk asked.

Randy looked like a deer caught in the head-lights. "Uh, ah-" He mumbled while flicking through his notebook.

The captain stepped in. "It means that the robber wanted to be seen, either to prove that she was Shardy when it was really a frame, or make it seem like it was a frame when it was really an elaborate plan. Either way, we got nothing." Stottlemeyer began directing Mr Monk & Natalie towards Shardy's bedroom.

Mr Monk winced, expecting a messy, filthy bedroom. Instead he found one that looked like it had been barely used, probably because it hadn't. There were no posters, just a duffle bag dumped in the middle of the room. " DNA samples?"

"Some from the family, and 1 unidentified sample around her doorknobs & duffle." Randy read from his notebook.

"So Shardy hasn't touched anything in this room…" Mr Monk remarked.

"How did we miss that?" Randy smacked his head. "Captain! Shardy hasn't touched anything in this room!" He sounded very excited.

"So?" The Captain looked annoyed at him.

"So… Uh… Monk, help me out!" Randy obviously didn't thrive well under pressure.

"Okay, so if she didn't touch anything in her room, why would she hire someone to go through it, looking for-" Mr Monk was interrupted by a shout.

"Hey! I found a bomb detonator behind the bed!" Mr Monk smiled his signature smile.

"Here's what happened… An Enemy of Shardy blew up her parents, framing her. They dressed up as her, stealing the evidence from the room & planting the detonator here, while trying to make it look like she was cleaning up. The person stopped to talk to someone on the way, so it was obvious that Shardy was there. They hid the detonator in a place no one would look but the cops. The person knew that Shardy had moved in with me, and had thought she took all her stuff. They panicked when there was nothing, dumping a duffle in the middle of the room to make it seem like she had been there recently. But there was only one problem, Shardy wasn't in San Fran. She hadn't told anyone she was leaving, and neither had we. The person blew up the family, not to get revenge on them, but to get revenge on Shardy. And we have the proof." Mr Monk folded his arms.

Suddenly Natalie's phone rang. "Hello?" She greeted.

"Oh, yeah, it's Shardy." Natalie could hear yelling in the background.

"What's going on?" Natalie leant against the wall.

"I'm in a holding cell, so I can't escape. The cops are pretending they're holding me for all that other stuff I did." Shardy remained emotionless, her most common emotion.

"Oh. Well guess what? Mr Monk proved your innocence!"

"Does it matter? They'll convict me anyway." Shardy was beginning to get upset.

"No, I'm sure they won't." Natalie reasoned.

"Ask them." Shardy was sure of herself.

Natalie turned to Stottlemeyer. "So, are you going to let Shardy off?"

"No." The Captain sighed. "She is a criminal, she is a minor, but a criminal. Under these circumstances, she will be tried as an adult, and will have about 6 month in there.

"WHAT?" Natalie yelled. "But she's a good kid! Half the stuff wasn't even her fault, and the other half was her trying to survive!"

"The Law's the Law." Stottlemeyer explained.

Natalie turned back to the phone. "Don't worry, we won't let you go to jail."

"I wish I could believe that. Anyway, can you tell Mr Monk that I'm in Jail. That's why I called."

"Can't you be bailed out, or-" The line went dead. "And the 2 minutes is up…" Natalie told no one in particular.

Mr Monk walked over to the Captain & Natalie. "What's up?" He asked.

"Shardy's in jail, & Stottlemeyer won't bail her out." Natalie accused.

"We have no more suspects. Great job Monk, you ruined our only lead." Stottlemeyer sighed.

"She was innocent!" Mr Monk stressed.

"Anyway, bailing her out would be the least you could do after accusing her of family-slaughter!" Natalie tried.

"Family-slaughter, Natalie?" Mr Monk raised his eyebrows. Natalie shot him a look.

"Uh, it's all well & good that you've proved Shardy's innocence, but may I remind you that we still have a case?" the Captain folded his arms.

"Right, right. But we don't have the evidence… Except for the DNA, and we can't test that to EVERY one of Shardy's enemies. Most of them are on the lam." Mr Monk explained. "But I'll have a look around here & see what I can find."

He looked around for a while, pulling back the bed cover with a pen & finding the stolen evidence. "Leland! I found the evidence!" The police team rushed over, swabbing the evidence before collecting it.

"Alright Monk. You can go home now." Stottlemeyer turned to his team. "I want the prints compared to everyone on our systems!"

………………………………………………………..

Author's note:

Hey hey again. I'm just going to put this up, even though I still have no idea where it's going. (shhh, don't tell the criminal!). If anyone wants to help me out with a new idea I'm working on, please PM me. I need someone to tell me if it's any good.

Remember, R&R or I will spork you!

Thanks.


	16. Bye!

Okay guys, RW123 here.

I've decided to stop writing, so if anyone wants to take over my stories, go for it, but PM me first. I'm leaving them all up, and free to copy/steal.

Thanks,

RW123.


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